Hybrid plasmonic waveguide race-track µ-ring resonator: Analysis of dielectric and hybrid mode for refractive index sensing applications

Abstract

We studied a hybrid plasmonic waveguide structure which is capable of supporting both dielectric and hybrid modes. It consists of a thin metal layer separated from a high index material by a low index interlay. Recently, this kind of waveguide has attracted a considerable amount of interest. Finite element method simulations suggest that waveguide geometry plays a vital role in the mode confinement and minimizing their propagation losses. The waveguide design is optimized such that both modes have a confinement factor of above 65% with minimum propagation losses. In the end, race-track µ-ring resonators are designed based on two different configurations of the hybrid plasmonic waveguide and their sensitivity is compared for refractive index sensing applications.