银纳米线表面等离激元波导的能量损耗

金属纳米结构的表面等离激元可以突破光学衍射极限,为光子器件的微型化和集成光学芯片的实现奠定基础.基于表面等离激元的各种基本光学元件已经研制出来.然而,由于金属结构的固有欧姆损耗以及向衬底的辐射损耗等,表面等离激元的传输能量损耗较大,极大地制约了其在纳米光子器件和回路中的应用.研究能量损耗的影响因素以及如何有效降低能量损耗对未来光子器件的实际应用具有重要意义.本文从纳米线表面等离激元的基本模式出发,介绍了它在不同条件下的场分布和传输特性,在此基础上着重讨论纳米线表面等离激元传输损耗的影响因素和测量方法以及目前常用的降低传输损耗的思路.最后给出总结以及如何进一步降低能量损耗方法的展望.表面等离激元能量损耗的相关研究对于纳米光子器件的设计和集成光子回路的构建有着重要作用.     

涂覆石墨烯的非对称并行电介质纳米线波导的模式特性分析

采用多级展开方法,对涂覆石墨烯的非对称并行电介质纳米线波导的模式特性进行了分析.首先对这种波导中的表面等离子模式进行分类,然后对七种低阶模式的有效折射率和传播长度随工作频率、几何结构参数和石墨烯费米能的依赖关系进行详细的分析.结果表明,通过改变工作频率、几何结构参数和石墨烯的费米能,可以在较大范围内调节模式的特性.与有限元法进行的对比表明,基于多级方法的半解析结果与有限元法的数值结果非常符合.研究结果可为涂覆石墨烯的非对称并行电介质纳米线的设计和制作提供一定的理论基础.     

All-dielectric bowtie waveguide with deep subwavelength mode confinement

Plasmonic waveguides and conventional dielectric waveguides have favorable characteristics in photonic integrated circuits. Typically, plasmonic waveguides can provide subwavelength mode confinement, as shown by their small mode area, whereas conventional dielectric waveguides guide light with low loss, as shown by their long propagation length. However, the simultaneous achievement of subwavelength mode confinement and low-loss propagation remains limited. In this paper, we propose a novel design of an alldielectric bowtie waveguide, which simultaneously exhibits both subwavelength mode confinement and theoretically lossless propagation. Contrary to traditional dielectric waveguides, where the guidance of light is based on total internal reflection, the principle of the all-dielectric bowtie waveguide is based on the combined use of the conservation of the normal component of the electric displacement and the tangential component of the electric field, such that it can achieve a mode area comparable to its plasmonic counterparts. The mode distribution in the all-dielectric bowtie waveguide can be precisely controlled by manipulating the geometric design. Our work shows that it is possible to achieve extreme light confinement by using dielectric instead of lossy metals.     

紫外表面等离激元在基于氧化锌纳米线的半导体-绝缘介质-金属结构中的输运特性研究

研究了紫外表面等离激元在半导体纳米线-绝缘介质-金属构成的波导结构中的输运问题,借助有限元方法,对这种波导所支持导模的电磁能分布、有效折射率、传播长度和有效模场面积随电磁参数和几何结构参数的依赖关系进行了分析.计算结果表明:以氧化锌纳米线作为增益介质,绝缘材料选择折射率小的空气,金属选择铝能够实现对输出光场的亚波长约束,有效模场面积达到λ2/100,同时保持低的传输损耗和高场强限制能力;有望用作纳米光源,使得相关的生物探测器件和医疗诊断设备实现更高的灵敏度和更小的体积.     

Enhancing Bremsstrahlung production from ultraintense laser-solid interactions with front surface structures

A new type of a coaxial multi-layer plasmonic waveguide is proposed. The mode propagation properties are analyzed at the communication working wavelength. Theoretical investigations reveal that the enhanced optical confinement can be achieved in the two low-index dielectric media layers. The mode size can be sub- or deep sub-wavelength scale. The mode propagation loss can be well compensated by replacing the high-index dielectric media with gain material to achieve longer propagation length with better mode confinement. The comparisons of the mode properties between the proposed waveguide and waveguides studied in the published literatures are also considered. These investigations potentially lay the groundwork for the further applications of nanowire type multilayer hybrid structures. This structure could also enable various applications such asnanophotonic waveguides, high-quality nanolasers, and optical trapping and biosensors.     

Long-range dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguides operating at telecommunication wavelengths

We report on the realization of long-range dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguides (LR-DLSPPWs) consisting of straight and bent subwavelength dielectric ridges deposited on thin and narrow metal stripes supported by a dielectric buffer layer covering a low-index substrate. Using imaging with a near-field optical microscope and end-fire coupling with a tapered fiber connected to a tunable laser at telecommunication wavelengths (1425-1545?nm), we demonstrate low-loss (propagation length ～500?μm) and well-confined (mode width ～1?μm) LR-DLSPPW mode guiding and determine the propagation and bend loss.     

Negative index and indefinite media waveguide couplers

We study the coupling interaction between dielectric waveguides and coupling elements made from negative-refracting media. The coupling configuration consists of a length of dielectric waveguide, which terminates either directly into or near a planar layer composed of the negative-refracting medium, and is followed by a second waveguide. Radiation output from the first waveguide is refocused at the position of the second waveguide, so that the negative-refracting layer serves as a coupler between the waveguides. Because both isotropic negative-index layers and bilayers of indefinite media can recover the near-field, evanescent components of a source field distribution, the coupling between the input and output waveguides can be highly efficient – in principle providing perfect, lossless coupling. We present simulations and some initial experimental results illustrating the coupling effect, and speculate on the potential for optical fiber couplers and integrated modulators. PACS 42.79.Gn; 41.20.-q; 42.70.-a     

Enhancing surface plasmon polariton propagation by two-layer dielectric-loaded waveguides on silver surface

We report a study of a two-layer dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguide (TDLSPPW) which consisted of two dielectric layers (high-index/low-index) on a silver film. The discontinuity of the electric field at the interfaces resulted in a concentrated field in the low-index region. It efficiently reduced the propagation loss of the surface plasmon polariton mode. The mode fields and corresponding complex propagation constants were calculated by a vector finite-difference method. The propagation properties were measured by a modified near-field optical microscope. It is confirmed that the propagation length of the proposed TDLSPPW was about 1.6 times longer than conventional single-layer SPP waveguides. In addition, a 90^° waveguide turn with 3 μm radius showed that the bending loss was smaller than 2 dB.     

SPM of nonlinear surface plasmon waveguides

Pulse propagation equation of nonlinear dispersion surface plasmon waveguide is educed strictly from wave equation. The nonlinear coefficient is defined and then used to assess and compare the nonlinear characteristic of three popular 1-D surface plasmon waveguides: the single metal–dielectric interface, the metal slab bounded by dielectric and the dielectric slab bounded by metal. SPM (self-phase modulation) of the typical surface plasmon waveguide is predicted and discussed.     

Negative-index dispersion and accidental mode degeneracy in an asymmetric spoof-insulator-spoof waveguide

It has been recently demonstrated that negative-index dispersion and mode degeneracy can be achieved by manipulating a spoof-insulator-spoof(SIS) waveguide. In this paper, we propose a new SIS waveguide, which is composed of two spoof surface plasmon polaritons(SSPPs) waveguides drilled with periodic rhomboidal grooves. Both the symmetric and asymmetric cases are investigated. Our simulation results show that the asymmetric SIS waveguides are more significant.By tailoring the tilt of the rhomboidal grooves, the negative-index dispersion can be achieved and the microwave band gap(MBG) can be effectively modulated. At a critical tilt, there appears an accidental mode degeneracy at the edge of the first Brillouin zone. The excitation and propagation of the two coupled modes sustained by the asymmetric SIS waveguides are also demonstrated.     

Scattering matrix and radiation characteristics of the junction between two different monomode microwave or optical dielectric waveguides

The elements of the scattering matrix of the junction between two circular monomode dielectric waveguides with different diameters and/or different refractive indices are calculated using the mode matching method. The theory is evaluated numerically for a wide range of parameters and simplified considerably for two important cases of weakly guiding waveguides.The radiation pattern of the junction is calculated using the Huygens-Kirchhoff theory of diffraction and shown to be reducible to the weighted difference of the radiation patterns of the ends of the primary and secondary waveguide. Simple approximations are derived for weakly guided waves.The theory is verified experimentally by measuring the scattering parameters, the far-field radiation pattern and the near-field distribution of abrupt changes in diameter of microwave dielectric rod transmission lines.     

On the characteristics of commonly nonideal rectangular ridge dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguides in practical fabrication processing

In this paper, four commonly nonideal structures of the ideal rectangular dielectric ridge dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguides (DLSPPWs) in actual fabrication processing were studied. The mode effective index, propagation length, field distributions, effects of geometric deviation, lateral field confinement and figures of merit of fundamental mode were calculated at the telecommunication wavelengths. It was found that, the propagation length, the lateral field confinement and figures of merit of four nonideal rectangle ridge DLSPPWs were changed compared with the ideal rectangular dielectric ridge DLSPPW. However, the field distributions were kept, and, the characteristics of nonideal rectangle ridge DLSPPWs were affected by the geometric deviation. This study presents the characteristics of commonly nonideal rectangle ridge DLSPPWs and provides substantial information for processing and optimizing the rectangular dielectric ridge DLSPPWs in practical fabrication processing.     

THz波段介质涂敷空芯金属圆波导的传输特性

针对THz波段介质涂敷空芯金属圆波导传输特性的精确分析问题,基于波导中场方程及边界条件建立关于传播常数的特征方程,并且采用改进的Muller法求解特征方程得到涂敷圆波导主模HE11模的传播常数。计算中对THz波段的非理想导体电导率采用经典弛豫效应模型。仿真结果表明:内径为1.8 mm的银波导,当聚苯乙烯涂敷层厚度为17 m时,HE11模在1.5~3.0 THz的衰减常数在1 dB/m以下,且具有较好的色散特性;内径为2.2 mm的银波导,在2.5 THz时其衰减常数随涂敷层厚度的增加先增大后减小,且存在最佳介质涂敷层厚度,可实现THz波低损耗传输。     

Analysis of the coupling of two non-parallel dielectric rod waveguides

In this paper the coupling between two closely spaced single mode dielectric rod waveguides is investigated when the corresponding propagation axes are not in the same plane. An approximate analysis is presented by assuming only first order interaction between the guided waves. For a given incident HE₁₁ mode (in one of the rod waveguides) the coupled wave amplitudes are computed in the other waveguide for both propagation directions. Numerical results are presented for several coupling geometries.     

Reducing crosstalk between nanowire-based hybrid plasmonic waveguides

Hybrid plasmonic waveguides based on a surface oxidized dielectric nanowire placed on a metal surface can facilitate simultaneously deep subwavelength mode confinement and large propagation length. Directional coupling based on such waveguides are theoretically investigated. Much lower crosstalk is noticed for such hybrid plasmonic waveguides compared to conventional waveguides based on bare dielectric nanowires. Some modifications, such as vertically placing the metal surfaces or using a metallic block between the nanowires, are studied which can further reduce the crosstalk between two waveguides. The proposed low crosstalk structures based on hybrid plasmonic waveguides can provide a simple platform for plasmonic integration which can at the same time easily interface with traditional photonic circuits.     

Simulation of the Propagation Property of Metal Wires Terahertz Waveguides

The propagation property of metal wires terahertz waveguides is studied and simulated under the framework of the Sommerfeld model. The group velocity dispersion, attenuation amplitude, transverse magnetic mode and propagating energy have been obtained by numerically solving the complex eigenvalue equation for the propagation constant. It is found that the group velocity dispersion and attenuation amplitude decrease with the increasing radii of metal wires. The energy power within the dielectric layer increase with the increase of radiation frequency.     

Analysis of plasmon terahertz waveguide formed by a dielectric ridge on semiconductor surface

We study, by the method of the effective index of refraction (EIR), the characteristics of plasmon terahertz waveguide formed by a quartz ridge above the surface of indium antimonide. EIR, propagation length, field distribution, and the condition of single-mode propagation are calculated for the fundamental TM00 mode at different sizes of the quartz ridge. It is shown that, as distinct from usual plasmon waveguides, high degree of field localization and long propagation length can be ensured simultaneously by optimum choice of ridge sizes. Comparison of field distributions calculated by the EIR technique and with COMSOL Multiphysics software indicates a good agreement, especially for not very small sizes of the ridge.     

Nonlinear photonics with metallic nanostructures on top of dielectrics and waveguides

We review recent experimental and theoretical studies of the ultrafast and nonlinear optical response of metallic nanostructures on top of dielectric substrates and slab waveguides where plasmon hybridization is a key ingredient. In a first three-pulse all-optical control experiment a hybrid plasmonic mode is turned on or off only a few tens of femtoseconds after its excitation. A second experiment concentrates on the origin of the nonlinear response in a metallo-dielectric photonic crystal structure. We show that the shape of the nonlinear optical spectra provides unambiguous information about the nonlinear optical contribution of the metallic as well as the dielectric part of the structure. Furthermore, we discuss the influence of slow-light on the nonlinear response. All experimental results agree perfectly with numerical scattering matrix calculations as well as simulations based on a classical harmonic oscillator model.     

Optimization design of optical waveguide control by nanoslit-enhanced THz field

We discuss design issues of devices which were proposed recently [Opt. Lett. 37 (2012) 3903] for terahertz (THz) control of the propagation of an optical waveguide mode. The mode propagates through a nonlinear dielectric material placed in a metallic nanoslit illuminated by THz radiation. The THz field in the slit is strongly localized and thus significantly enhanced, facilitating nonlinear interactions with the dielectric waveguide material. This enhancement can lead to notable changes in the refractive index of the waveguide. The closer the waveguide is to the slit walls, the higher the nonlinear effects are, but with the cost of increasing propagation losses due to parasitic coupling to surface plasmon polaritons at the metal interfaces. We analyze several optical waveguide configurations and define a figure of merit that allows us to design the optimal configuration. We find that designs with less overlap of the THz and optical fields but also with lower losses are better than designs where both these parameters are higher. The estimated terahertz field incident onto the metallic nanoslit required to manipulate the waveguide mode has reasonable values which can be achieved in practice.     

Rapid laser prototyping of plasmonic components

Renewed and growing interest in the field of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) comes from a rapid advance of nanostructuring technologies. In this paper, we will report on the application of two-photon polymerization (2PP) technique for the fabrication of dielectric SPP-structures, which can be used for localization, guiding, and manipulation of SPPs on a subwavelength scale. This technology is based on nonlinear absorption of near-infrared femtosecond laser pulses. Resolutions down to 100 nm (and even better) are already achievable. Characterization of these structures is performed by leakage radiation microscopy. 2PP allows the fabrication of dielectric waveguides, splitters, and couplers directly on metal surfaces. The dielectric structures on metal films are demonstrated to be very efficient for the excitation of SPPs. Using these structures, one can achieve excitation and focusing of the resulting plasmon field. PACS 42.70.Gi; 42.70.Jk; 42.82.Cr; 71.36.+c; 78.20.-e