Three-dimensional simulation of surface plasmon polariton nanometric optical circuits by volume integral equation

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Downsizing of optical circuits is one of the most important subjects in communication technology for the future. Recently, the subject of making optical circuits of nanometric scale has attracted much attention. The size and density of optical devices employing conventional optical waveguide and photonic crystals is limited by the diffraction limit of light. However, the size of optical waveguides using surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) can be significantly decreased as compared to the conventional diffraction-limited optical waveguide. The optical circuit using SPPs is a promising candidate for nanoscale optical circuits. We propose a nanoscale optical waveguide and show, by three-dimensional numerical simulations, that this waveguide can be employed in nanometric optical circuits.