Plasmonics–mine the gap: opinion

Abstract

Gap plasmon structures could enable future ultrafast communication by allowing simultaneous nanoscale integration of electromagnetic waves, nonlinear and optical-electrical conversion, and providing a critical element often overlooked in this context: electrical contacts. Here, the fundamental limit of these structures is discussed, and it is argued that the conventional concept of “smaller is better" for higher confinement is not true when the loss is considered, but few nanometer gaps will be required to give the best performance. Overall, to achieve widescale adoption, plasmonics will likely have to combine forces with emerging CMOS-like nanophotonics.

Organic Electro-Optics and Optical Rectification: From Mesoscale to Nanoscale Hybrid Devices and Chip-Scale Integration of Electronics and Photonics

“…Comparison of various EO device technologies is extensively reviewed in the literature. ,,− ,,,,,,, Meaningful comparison of different technologies is complex and can be misleading. Some general comments can be made.…”

“…A sea change in electro-optic technology (and ultimately, optical rectification technology) has occurred with (1) the advent of the subwavelength technologies of silicon photonics and plasmonics ,− and with (2) theory-guided improvement of the r 33 values and other relevant properties of OEO materials. ,, Silicon photonics and plasmonics have facilitated a dramatic reduction in device dimensions. Plasmonic–organic hybrid (POH) device lengths can be reduced to less than 10 μm and electrode spacings to less than 50 nm (nm).…”

“…We do, however, provide examples of typical SFDR and bit error rate (BER) performance for hybrid organic EO devices. In a like manner, we do not give a detailed comparison of modulator technologies (modulated lasers, Pockels effect modulators, and modulator based on electro-absorption and other mechanisms) as these are covered in many cited reviews. ,,− ,,,,− We do note that new classes of EO materials and devices (e.g., EO devices based on materials such as ITO) are emerging and merit attention. Our perspective is to provide insight into coordinated development of OEO materials and related devices relevant to commercial (or potentially commercial) electro-optic and optical rectification technologies.…”

Plasmonic Slot Waveguide Propagation Analysis

“…They allow electrical bias fields and optical modes in the same region, which favors integration with existing electronics [20]. The two metal layers provide electrical contacts down to the nanometer scale [21,22], while their high thermal conductivity facilitates heat removal from the circuitry [13,23,24]. They merge the subwavelength operation of electronics with the large bandwidth of photonics, promising a new generation of faster ultra-compact photonic integrated circuits [4,11,[25][26][27][28][29].…”