Integrated Asymmetric Hybrid Plasmonic Waveguides and Devices

Long-range hybrid plasmonic modes with optimal loss-confinement trade-off are enabled in asymmetric waveguides irrespective of material or structural symmetry by engineering conditions for electric field matching. A field-symmetric superposition of coupled hybrid and SPP modes enable the design of asymmetric hybrid-SPP plasmonic waveguides with 0.021dB/Îźm propagation losses and 0.15Îźm^2 mode area confinement across telecom-wavelength range. Moreover, a highly efficient junction coupling of 71% between hybrid-SPP waveguides and silicon nanowires allows integration of compact plasmonic devices such as microring resonators and photodetectors into conventional silicon technologies. The performance for these passive devices are experimentally verified in samples that can be reproducibly fabricated thanks to improvements in the latest nanofabrication techniques. The unique properties of the coupling mechanism asymmetry between hybrid and SPP modes allow the potential to explore the design of both low loss optical circuits, as well as enhanced absorption for photodetection on the same platform.M.A.S.2018-06-22 00:00:0