Electrically Controllable Active Plasmonic Directional Coupler of Terahertz Signal based on a Periodical Dual Grating Gate Graphene Structure

Abstract

We propose a concept of an electrically controllable plasmonic directional coupler of terahertz signal based on a periodical structure with an active (with inversion of the population of free charge carriers) graphene with a dual grating gate and numerically calculate its characteristics. Proposed concept of plasmon excitation by using the grating gate offers highly effective coupling of incident electromagnetic wave to plasmons as compared with the excitation of plasmons by a single diffraction element. The coefficient which characterizes the efficiency of transformation of the electromagnetic wave into the propagating plasmon has been calculated. This transformation coefficient substantially exceeds the unity (exceeding 6 in value) due to amplification of plasmons in the studied structure by using pumped active graphene. We have shown that applying different dc voltages to different subgratings of the dual grating gate allows for exciting the surface plasmon in graphene, which can propagate along or opposite the direction of the structure periodicity, or can be a standing plasma wave for the same frequency of the incident terahertz wave. The coefficient of unidirectionality, which is the ratio of the plasmon power flux propagating along (opposite) the direction of the structure periodicity to the sum of the absolute values of plasmon power fluxes propagating in both directions, could reach up to 80 percent. Two different methods of the plasmon propagation direction switching are studied and possible application of the found effects are suggested.