Dynamically reconfigurable nanoscale modulators utilizing coupled hybrid plasmonics.

ABSTRACT: The balance between extinction ratio (ER) and insertion loss (IL) dictates strict trade-off when designing travelling-wave electro-optic modulators. This in turn entails significant compromise in device footprint (L3dB) or energy consumption (E). In this work, we report a nanoscale modulator architecture that alleviates this trade-off while providing dynamic reconfigurability that was previously unattainable. This is achieved with the aide of three mechanisms: (1) Utilization of epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) effect, which maximizes the attainable attenuation that an ultra-thin active material can inflict on an optical mode. (2) Non-resonant coupled-plasmonic structure which supports modes with athermal long-range propagation. (3) Triode-like biasing scheme for flexible manipulation of field symm

SUBMITTER: Lin C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4507171 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature