Hybrid waveguide-surface plasmon polariton modes in a guided-mode resonance grating

We analyze the coupling between surface plasmon polaritons in a metal grating and the guided modes of a dielectric waveguide. Our model structure is a gold wire grating on a slab waveguide made of silicon nitride on silica wafer. The excitation of guided-mode resonances, surface plasmon polariton modes and hybrid waveguide-plasmon modes are observed in numerical simulations. Our experiments verify the existence of the predicted modes. These hybrid modes add significant degrees of freedom in designing structures for plasmonic applications.     

Design of hybrid optical waveguide with a 90° bend structure for high density photonics integrated circuits

A hybrid optical waveguide having a 90° sharp bend structure, composed of a dielectric straight waveguide, tapered dielectric strip waveguide, and microscale metal gap waveguide, is proposed and simulated to improve the efficiency of light coupling between dielectric and plasmonic waveguides. Our simulation result is a critical step for the hybrid integration of plasmonic components with conventional dielectric components.     

Proposed electrically-pumped,III–V-metal hybrid plasmonic lasers

We propose an electrically-pumped hybrid plasmonic laser through the integration of a semiconductor quantum well laser with a thin metal film. Due to the coupling between the TM waveguide mode in the III–V active layer and the LRSPP mode around the metal thin film, light can be confined in both regions and optical gain can be provided by the active layer. We have shown that the quasi-odd supermode is the preferred lasing mode because of its larger confinement factor and lower modal loss compared to the quasi-even supermode. Through optimizing the gap distance between the active region and the metal film, we can obtain low threshold and a large amount of optical energy confined around the metal film for the hybrid plasmonic laser.     

亚波长尺度下混合等离子泄漏模式激光

由于光存在衍射极限,因此传统方法不能实现亚波长尺度下的激光激射。为了打破这一衍射极限,本文设计了金属-介电层-半导体堆叠结构来实现深亚波长尺度下的激光激射,并讨论了相关结构对模式传播的影响。结构设计上,采用低介电常数金属银作为衬底、10 nm厚的LiF作为介电层、具有六边形截面的半导体纳米线ZnO作为高介电常数层,采用有限差分本征模和时域有限差分方法对所设计的结构进行光学仿真模拟。首先,通过改变ZnO纳米线的直径,使用有限本征模方法分析介电层中的光学模式,得到4种模式分布。然后,通过这4种光学模式在不同纳米线直径下的有效折射率和损耗计算了对应的波导传输距离以及激射阈值增益。最后,采用三维时域有限差分方法仿真分析纳米线稳态激光发射过程中各模式的电场分布。结果表明:在纳米线和金属衬底之间的介电层上存在混合等离子体模式和混合电模式,对于直径低于75 nm的ZnO纳米线,没有有效的物理光学模式,即混合等离子体模式和混合电模式都被切断,当ZnO纳米线的直径大于75 nm时,混合等离子体模式可以有效存在,而混合电模式在ZnO纳米线的直径达到120 nm之后才出现。虽然混合等离子体模式可以更好地限制在介电层中,但是它们的模式损耗太大,传播距离相对较小。此外,与混合等离子体模式相比,混合电模式的传播距离更长。在给定微米线的直径(D=240μm)下,混合电模式传播距离超过50μm。综上可知,在深亚波长尺度下利用混合泄漏模式可以打破光学衍射极限并实现激光激射。     

Optical waveguiding in semiconductor injection lasers and integrated optics

Weak perturbations from various refractive index distributions have been introduced into the central layer of the three layered dielectric slab optical waveguide model and solutions of the wave equation in this guide for TE modes have been compared with the results published for the unperturbed mode. The perturbations in general introduce quadrature components in the transverse modes and a mode width dependent amplitude. The mode position within the guide can be shifted and the mode width increased or decreased. With increasing parabolic perturbation there is increasing waveguide discrimination against higher order modes.     

Analysis of surface and guided wave plasmon polariton modes in insulator–metal–insulator planar plasmonic waveguides

Theoretical and experimental study of the surface plasmon–polariton and guided wave plasmon polariton modes is presented for the Sapphire/Ag/Polycarbonate/Air structure. Theoretical results are obtained by solving complex multilayer eigenvalue equations as well as the reflectivity equation for this structure. It is proposed that the mode attenuation can be significantly reduced by inserting a low index dielectric buffer between the metal and the guiding dielectric layer. The dispersion and attenuation curves are generated. Both the surface plasmon and guided wave plasmon polariton modes are studied experimentally. The experimental values of the effective refractive indices agree well with the theoretical values. The electric field profiles are generated and used to examine the nature of modes. After optimization of various parameters the condition for low loss single mode guiding is obtained for the proposed structure. Effect of metal thickness on surface plasmon mode is also discussed. It is inferred that in a properly optimized plasmonic waveguide, the losses can be reduced by a factor of 4.     

Efficient second-harmonic generation in nonlinear plasmonic waveguide

We theoretically studied a nonlinear optical process in a hybrid plasmonic waveguide composed of a nonlinear dielectric waveguide and a metal film with a separation of a thin air gap. Owing to the hybridization effect of guided mode and surface plasmon polariton mode, this particular waveguide is able to confine the optical-field in a deep subwavelength scale together with low propagation loss. Based on this, efficient second-harmonic generations (SHG) were revealed at the fundamental wavelength of λ=1.55?μm with good field confinement. The SHG efficiency, as well as the coupling coefficient and mode area, were analyzed and discussed in detail with respect to the structural parameters.     

Guided modes in asymmetric metal-cladding left-handed material waveguides

We investigate guided modes in the asymmetric waveguide structure with a left-handed material (LHM) layer surrounded by air and metal. A graphical method is proposed to determine the guided modes. New properties of the oscillating and surface guided modes, such as absence of the fundamental mode, coexistence of the oscillating and surface guided modes, fast attenuation of the surface guided modes, and mode degeneracy, are analyzed in detail. We also investigate dispersive characteristics of the metal-LHM- air optical waveguide. The propagation constant increases with decreasing slab thickness for the first-order oscillating mode, which is different from that in traditional metal-cladding waveguides.     

Dispersionless slow light by photonic crystal slab waveguide with innermost elliptical air holes

We report a low-loss photonic crystal slab waveguide formed by deforming the innermost circle air holes in the conventional photonic crystal slab waveguide into elliptical ones. We obtain the photonic bands and group index of guided modes in this photonic crystal waveguide by guided-mode expansion method and investigate the dependence of photonic bands and group index of guided modes on the parameters of the innermost elliptical air holes. The group velocity and group velocity dispersion of this waveguide strongly depend on the innermost elliptical air holes. Photonic crystal slab waveguide with the optimum innermost elliptical air holes possesses a wider single mode region below the light line, in which light can easily propagate without intrinsic loss. At the same time, the guided mode supported by this waveguide has nearly constant group velocity and vanishing group velocity dispersion in a 3-5 nm bandwidth.     

包含左手材料的四层平板波导中的光导模

研究一个芯子层是左手材料,其他三层由传统材料构成的四层平板光波导系统,利用图解法对各种TE偏振的导波模式的解进行详细分析.研究表明,四层左手材料光波导既能支持振荡导模,也能支持表面导模,与三层左手材料光波导相比较,此四层波导的导波模式呈现一些新的特性.对于中间传统材料层存在振荡场的情形:芯子层支持振荡导模的光波导中存在基模,并且高阶振荡导模出现模式缺失的性质;芯子层支持表面导模的光波导可以支持基模和多个高阶模式,并且存在模式兼并的性质.对于中间传统材料层存在衰减场的情形,此四层波导结构可等效为三层左手材料光波导.这些新的光波导传输性质对各种光波导器件的制作有潜在的应用价值.     

Simulations of hybrid long-range plasmon modes with application to 90 degree bends

We perform rigorous simulations of hybrid long-range modes guided by a central metal core and a two-dimensional dielectric slab. We show that these modes are subject to fewer limitations than conventional long-range plasmon modes in terms of field confinement and guiding performance. These hybrid modes may offer substantial improvements for integrated plasmonic components, as illustrated here by the consideration of 90 degrees bends.     

Vertical coupling characteristics between hybrid plasmonic slot waveguide and Si waveguide

For development of complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible integrated optical circuits, vertical directional coupling between a hybrid plasmonic slot waveguide and a Si waveguide is theoretically investigated in detail. To determine the vertical separation gap and efficient coupling length, we investigate the characteristics of the even and odd supermodes at a wavelength of 1.55 μm. The vertical coupler transfers 90% of the power carried by the Si waveguide to the hybrid plasmonic slot waveguide after normalizing to reference waveguides when the gap is 60 nm and the coupling length is 2.6 μm. Because of the lossy hybrid guided mode in the plasmonic waveguide, the transmitted power exhibits damped sinusoidal behavior depending on the overlapping length. The proposed vertical coupler shows more efficient light coupling between a dielectric and plasmonic waveguide in comparison to the other types of hybrid coupler, and can be exploited further for on-chip integrated opto-electronic circuits.     

Circular arc plasmonic waveguide couplers between two-dimensional dielectric slab waveguides and plasmonic waveguides

We investigate the properties of arc plasmonic waveguide coupler between two-dimensional dielectric slab waveguides and plasmonic waveguides with two-dimensional finite difference time domain methods. The simulation results show that transmission efficiency between high index dielectric slab waveguides with width 300 nm and silver-air-silver waveguides with width 40 nm connected by the coupler can reach to 90.4% at optical communication wavelength. And, by optimizing the shapes near the ends of the coupler, the transmission efficiency can be improved to 98.4%.     

Analysis of Radiation Phenomena in a Wedge Ended Dielectric Slab Waveguide

Radiation phenomena observed in a wedge shape ended dielectric slab waveguide are analyzed using mode matching technique. The case of transverse electric polarization (TE) being parallel to dielectric slab waveguide is assumed. In order to describe the fields in the wedge region, a stack of dielectric plates is assumed and in each layer the fields are expanded in terms of the mixed spectrum of guided and radiated modes. A similar expansion is used in the constant thickness slab waveguide while in free space medium a continuous-radiation mode expansion is used. Then a mode matching approach is applied, incorporating the orthogonality properties of mixed spectrum modes, in order to compute the wave fields inside the dielectric slab waveguide and wedge medium. Mode matching is achieved by discretizing the continuous radiation mode spectrum leading into a numerically stable solution provided a sufficient large number of points are used to convert integrals into finite summations. Numerical computations are carried out for various wedge geometries and shapes including linear and exponential profiles.     

A partially reflecting metal cladding: its effect on the modes of dielectric optical waveguides

If the metal cladding of a dielectric optical waveguide is sufficiently thin to be only partially reflecting, then the waveguide modes differ from those of the conventional metal-clad waveguide. The TE modes are little affected by a variation in the metal thickness but the TM modes change considerably due to a coupling between the waveguide modes and the surface plasma waves supported by both the metal: dielectric interfaces and the metal film. It is the refractive index of the dielectric cladding which is remote from the guiding core that determines whether the lowest order TM mode is the TM₀ or TM₁ mode. This dielectric cladding also strongly influences the attenuation of the TM modes and, if the guide supports a TM₀ mode, then the attenuation of the TM modes far from cut-off are an order of magnitude higher than that of the corresponding modes when the guide cannot support a TM₀ mode. If the guide can support a TM₀ mode then its dimensions can be chosen such that it will support the TE_N and TM_N modes with equal phase velocities. A lossless approximation is used to develop an expression which will specify the required guide dimensions directly and parametric plots of these dimensions are discussed.     

数值模拟二维间隙表面等离子波导传输特性

利用表面等离子激元的新颖特性,设计了二维间隙表面等离子波导.以这种结构为基础通过变形和组合形成90°直角弯曲波导、T型光功率分配器和光开光,采用时域有限差分法研究了它们的传输特性.结果表明:不同于介质光波导的弯曲损耗来自于辐射泄漏,90°直角弯曲间隙表面等离子波导的能量损耗主要来自于金属中的欧姆热损耗.在间隙达到40 nm以上后,当直行段的长度适当时,弯曲段的透射率较相同长度的直波导的透射率要大.T型光功率分配器在两输出波导的间隙宽度比达到0.6及以上时,不同于传统介质波导的分光原则,能量主要沿等效折射率较小的输出臂流出.当两输入光的相位反相时,T型光开关处于输出截止的状态,当两输入光的相位同相时,T型光开关处于输出导通的状态.所有波导间隙均小于衍射极限,实现了超衍射极限传播,可用于未来了超大规模集成光路中.     

电压调控多种金属膜波导特性研究

采用自由空间耦合的方法,激发双面金属包覆波导中的超高阶导模,通过在双面金属包覆介质波导的两个金属膜上加不同的电压,改变导波层铌酸锂的厚度和折射率,得到不同参数下的衰减全反射谱,从而验证超高阶导模的偏振不灵敏性及对导波层厚度和折射率十分灵敏的特殊性质,实验结果与理论相吻合。比较相同条件下反射率的变化,得到铝包覆波导的灵敏度要高于金包覆波导。所得结果对集成光电子器件的研制有一定的参考价值。     

Finite element beam propagation method for analysis of plasmonic waveguide

The basic idea of the finite element beam propagation method (FE-BPM) is described. It is applied to calculate the fundamental mode of a channel plasmonic polariton (CPP) waveguide to confirm its validity. Both the field distribution and the effective index of the fundamental mode are given by the method. The convergence speed shows the advantage and stability of this method. Then a plasmonic waveguide with a dielectric strip deposited on a metal substrate is investigated, and the group velocity is negative for the fundamental mode of this kind of waveguide. The numerical result shows that the power flow direction is reverse to that of phase velocity.     

金属包层对称平面单轴晶体波导的模式场(Ⅱ)

对于晶体光轴平行于波导界面的结构,讨论了光在金属包层对称平面单轴晶体波导(波导层是单轴晶体,两个波导界面均为金属)内的传输特性.解析地得到了这种结构下波导模式场的精确解.模式场的性质因单轴晶体的性质不同而异.对于正单轴晶体,波导的主模是横电波,任何频率的光波均可激励该模式;当频率满足一定条件时,波导内传输单模,否则,将激励起高阶模式.高阶模既非TE波,也非TM波,而是两者耦合而成的混合模.对于负单轴晶体,波导的主模是一种混合模,该模式同样可被任何频率的光波所激励;当频率满足一定条件时,波导内传输单模,否则 关键词： 平面金属波导 单轴晶体 模式场 混合模     

带有增益介质层的混合脊状等离子体波导的传输特性

在传统脊状等离子体波导的基础上设计了一种带有增益介质层的新型混合脊状等离子体波导,其结构中的介质层部分包含两个区域:前区为单一介质,后区的脊是由2种介质构成的双层脊区。采用二维时域有限差分方法分析了波导结构的传输特性,得到了TM模下的电场分布图,并对输出功率以及传输损耗与结构参数和介质折射率的变化规律进行了讨论。结果表明,在波导中引入的增益介质材料磷化铟后其损耗达到-6 dB/μm。此种波导结构对于光集成芯片的研究与制作具有重要意义。