Chapter 1 - Dynamic components utilizing long-range surface plasmon polaritons

Abstract

This chapter discusses the dynamic components utilizing long-range surface plasmon polaritons (LRSPP). The LRSPP extends progressively into the dielectric cladding and becomes only weakly attached to the metal for thinner metal films. It presents the dependence of the LRSPP normalized effective refractive index on the gold film thickness. In the simple qualitative analysis that is presented by the chapter, the characteristics of the LRSPP mode propagating in a stripe metal waveguide of finite width is found by using the effective refractive index method. For optical characterization of the LRSPP stripe waveguides and waveguide devices, standard transmission measurement s are performed by the chapter. It performs the propagation loss measurements for 8-mm-wide straight stripe waveguides of different thicknesses from approximately 8.5 to 35 nm. The LRSPP stripe waveguides are formed by 15-nm-thin and 8-mm-wide gold stripes sandwiched between 15-mm-thick layers of BCB supported by a silicon wafer. It is found that metal stripes, which constitute the heart of LRSPP-based modulators and switches, can also be used to monitor the transmitted LRSPP power by means of measuring the variations in the stripe resistance caused by heating.