ENZ waveguide of Al-doped zinc oxide for telecommunication applications

Abstract

We investigate the incorporation of an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) material into a waveguide structure in order to suppress dispersion associated with the interaction of light with material in the core, guiding layer. ENZ metamaterials can provide a mechanism for air-core waveguides by introduction of a cladding medium exhibiting a refractive index less than unity. We study the application of aluminum zinc oxide (AZO), a transparent conducting oxide, as the candidate for ENZ waveguides. For this purpose, we design a metamaterial cladding layer with ENZ properties derived from nanoparticles of AZO, and investigate the resulting loss and dispersion of guided optical signals.