Flexible Thermo-Optic Variable Attenuator based on Long-Range Surface Plasmon-Polariton Waveguides

Abstract

A flexible thermo-optic variable attenuator based on long-range surface plasmon-polariton (LRSPP) waveguide for microwave photonic application was investigated. Low-loss polymer materials and high-quality silver strip were served as cladding layers and core layer of the LRSPP waveguide, respectively. By using finite element method (FEM), the thermal distribution and the optical field distribution have been carefully optimized. The fabricated device was characterized by end-fire excitation with a 1550 nm laser. The transmission performance of high-speed data and microwave modulated optical signal was measured while using a broadband microwave photonics link. The results indicated that the propagation loss of the LRSPP waveguide was about 1.92 dB/cm. The maximum attenuation of optical signal was about 28 dB at a driving voltage of 4.17 V, and the variable attenuation of microwave signals was obviously observed by applying different driving voltage to the heater. This flexible plasmonic variable attenuator is promising for chip-scale interconnection in high-density photonic integrated circuits and data transmission and amplitude control in microwave photonic systems.

Straight Long-Range Surface Plasmon Polariton Waveguide Sensor Operating at λ0 = 850 nm

“…A double-layer lift-off process was adopted to fabricate the LRSPP waveguide sensor [35,36]. As shown in Figure 9, SU-8 2005 (Kayaku Advanced Materials Inc., Westborough, MA, USA) was first spin-coated on the silicon substrate and UV-cured at an exposure dose of 100 mW (λ = 365 nm).…”

Novel Structures’ Configurations for Long-Range Surface Plasmon-Polaritron

“…This, in turn, can induce significant phase accumulation that can be used for highsensitivity sensing. By using this principle, different devices have been proposed and experimentally developed [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”

Editorial for Special Issue on Flexible Electronics: Fabrication and Ubiquitous Integration

“…There are 10 papers published in this Special Issue, covering new strategies for a paradigm shift in the design [ 1 , 2 , 3 ], fabrication [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ], and encapsulation [ 8 , 9 , 10 ] of next-generation flexible systems. Xiao et al [ 1 ] proposed an “island-bridge” strategy to design high-performance stretchable electronics composed of inorganic rigid components so that that can they can be conformally transferred to non-developable surfaces.…”

“…On the application side, these papers have focused on the implementation of flexible systems in healthcare [ 4 , 10 ], photonics [ 3 ], and the human–machine interface [ 9 ]. Traditional manufacturing approaches and materials used to fabricate flexible epidermal electronics for physiological monitoring, transdermal stimulation, and therapeutics have proven to be complex and expensive, impeding the fabrication of flexible electronic systems that can be used as single-use medical devices.…”

“…Tang et al [ 3 ] developed a flexible thermo-optic variable attenuator based on long-range surface plasmon-polariton (LRSPP) waveguide for microwave photonic applications. This flexible plasmonic variable attenuator constitutes a step forward towards the fabrication of high-density photonic integrated circuits and a new solution for data transmission and amplitude control in microwave photonic systems.…”