Compact broadband slow wave system based on spoof plasmonic THz waveguide with meander grooves

Abstract

Conformal surface plasmons (CSPs) on ultrathin corrugated metallic strips have been proposed to develop versatile spoof plasmonic subwavelength integrated devices at lower frequencies bands, especially at terahertz (THz) frequencies. However, the effects of the groove shapes have not been fully investigated. Here we have proposed the CSPs waveguide constructed by meander grooves on an ultrathin dielectric substrate. The dispersions and propagation characteristics of the CSPs on the proposed waveguide have been investigated in the THz frequencies. A very compact broadband slow wave system based on such waveguide has been demonstrated, whose lateral dimension decreases about 43.2% than that based on the conventional CSPs waveguide. To verify the performance of the THz plasmonic device, we implemented experimental validation in the microwave frequencies by scaling up its geometry structure. It is believed that the CSPs waveguide and device can find more applications in the surface plasmonic THz platform such as signal processing and optical communication system.