Nanowires Integrated to Optical Waveguides

Abstract

Chip-scale integrated optical devices are one of the most developed research subjects in last years. These devices serve as a bridge to overcome size mismatch between diffraction-limited bulk optics and nanoscale photonic devices. They have been employed to develop many on-chip applications, such as integrated light sources, polarizers, optical filters, and even biosensing devices. Among these integrated systems can be found the so-called hybrid photonic-plasmonic devices, structures that integrate plasmonic metamaterials on top of optical waveguides, leading to outstanding physical phenomena. In this contribution, we present a comprehensive study of the design of hybrid photonic-plasmonic systems consisting of periodic arrays of metallic nanowires integrated on top of dielectric waveguides. Based on numerical simulations, we explain the physics of these structures and analyze light coupling between plasmonic resonances in the nanowires and the photonic modes of the waveguides below them. With this chapter we pretend to attract the interest of research community in the development of integrated hybrid photonic-plasmonic devices, especially light interaction between guided photonic modes and plasmonic resonances in metallic nanowires.

Integrated Optical Filters with Hyperbolic Metamaterials

“…To compute the dispersion curves of the multilayered media, we used the transfer matrix method [ 49 ]. These curves quantify the number of modes supported by the periodic structure as a function of the propagation constant at a given spectral range.…”

“…The green curves represent the modes, the white dotted curve represents the air light-line, and the white dashed curve corresponds to the glass substrate light-line. The map was obtained by equating the fourth element of the general matrix to zero [ 49 ] and plotted in logarithmic scale, the maxima values being related to the modes supported by the structure.…”

Plasmonic Metalens to Generate an Airy Beam

“…Each nanoslit was modeled as a metal–insulator–metal plasmonic waveguide for p -polarized light [ 43 ]. The propagation constant of plasmonic guided modes is given by [ 36 , 44 ]: where and are the TM mode waveguide and free-space propagation constants, respectively, and and are the dielectric constants for air and metal, respectively.…”

“…Hence, by symmetry arguments, the compact and simple PM proposed, which modifies the phase in only one dimension, is suitable to generate the airy beam. Each nanoslit was modeled as a metal-insulator-metal plasmonic waveguide for p-polarized light [43]. The propagation constant of plasmonic guided modes is given by [36,44]:…”

Plasmonic-Induced Transparencies in an Integrated Metaphotonic System

“…Integrated hybrid photonic–plasmonic devices are systems that combine dielectric photonic waveguides with plasmonic nanostructures, reducing intrinsic optical losses when light propagates through metals [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. These hybrid systems have been employed for different on-chip applications, such as subwavelength-guided modes with continuous and periodic plasmonic nanostructures [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ], optical switching devices [ 14 , 15 , 16 ], nanoscale light sources [ 17 , 18 , 19 ], structured light generation [ 20 ], second harmonic generation [ 21 ], and wavelength and mode converters [ 22 , 23 , 24 ], to mention a few.…”