Plasmonic MIM and MSM Waveguide Couplers for Plasmonic Integrated Computing System

Abstract

Plasmonic metal-insulator-metal waveguide (MIM WG) is a promising building block of devices of a plasmonic computing system, and metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) WG offers high-speed detection of plasmon signals. MIM and MSM WG couplers are an essential component of any integrated computing system that requires an interface between the plasmonic devices and the electronic circuits. However, the MIM and MSM WG couplers have not yet been explored and systematically studied. This work analyzes and benchmarks various coupling schemes of the plasmonic MIM and MSM WGs to single out the best coupling approach. From the detailed numerical analysis and considering the trade-offs among coupling loss, total capacitance, system noise, and bandwidth, a holistic metric is introduced to quantify and compare the system-level performance of the couplers, and a novel coupling scheme is identified as the most attractive choice for coupling the two WGs.

Comparison of Photonic to Plasmonic Mode Converters for Plasmonic Multiple-Input Devices

“…Recent advancements in plasmonics have led to the development of a diverse array of plasmonic devices that can generate, guide, manipulate, and detect surface plasmon polariton (SPP) signal in a sub-wavelength scale. Researchers have designed and demonstrated active and passive plasmonic components, such as plasmonic modulators [1], [2], logic gates [3], plasmonic detectors [4], [5], plasmonic interconnects [6], [7], and couplers [8], exploiting their unique features for nanophotonic computing.…”