Three port photonic and plasmonic demultiplexers based on Cross and U-shaped stub structures: Application for filtering and sensing

Abstract

We propose the design of three port photonic and plasmonic demultiplexers where filtering toward the two outputs is based on the phenomena of Fano resonances and electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). We use a Cross-shape resonator in one output and a U-shape resonator composed of two stubs in the other output. We give a theoretical demonstration of the geometrical parameters of both resonators in order to filter one wavelength in one output while leaving the other output unperturbed. These results are confirmed by experimental validation in the radio frequency domain and a numerical simulation in the infrared (IR) domain using plasmonic metal–insulator–metal waveguides. The Cross resonator in the first output can give rise to an EIT resonance, whereas the U-shaped resonator in the second output may exhibit both EIT and Fano resonances depending on the lengths chosen for the stubs. Therefore, different demultiplexing schemes can be proposed such as achieving a Fano resonance in one output and an EIT in the other, or EIT resonances in both outputs. The Fano resonance is obtained by bringing resonance close to transmission zero, whereas the EIT results from the squeezing of resonance between two transmission zeros. When the widths of the resonances tend to zero, they transform to trapped or bound states in the continuum with an infinite lifetime. We show that the crosstalk between the two channels can be reduced to −82 dB and the sensitivity can reach 2390.8 nm/RIU, RIU is the refractive index units. Finally, we highlight the performance of our design as a high sensitive filter and sensor in the IR domain. In this work, the analytical calculations and demonstrations are performed by using Green’s function approach, the experimental verifications are realized by means of coaxial cables operating in the radio frequency range and the numerical simulations are obtained using the finite element method via Comsol Multiphysics software.