A high gain and wideband on-chip hybrid plasmonic V-shaped nano-antenna

Abstract

In this paper, a wideband hybrid plasmonic V-shaped nano-antenna is proposed based on coupled hybrid plasmonic waveguide (CHPW) feeding to increase the surface plasmon propagation length. The CHPW specifications are investigated analytically and numerically to obtain the dispersion relation and propagation length using the genetic algorithm and the finite element method, respectively. Moreover, the proposed V-shaped nano-antenna, with a fractional bandwidth of ∼86% and a maximum efficiency of 98%, is able to receive/transmit optical signals at three telecommunication wavelengths of 850, 1310, and 1550 nm with high realized gains of 10.5, 9.39, and 9.05 dB, respectively. The shape of the radiation pattern, with a main lobe along the antenna axis, makes this antenna appropriate for point-to-point connections in inter- or intra-chip optical wireless links and networks, which is studied comprehensively in this article. Furthermore, to obtain a high optical power signal and tune the antenna orientation, the performance of the antenna is investigated with two different types of array structure, single row and square, and its applications for energy harvesting and beam steering are studied. The fabrication feasibility of the nano-antenna is realizable based on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology.