Improved bending loss characteristics of asymmetric surface plasmonic waveguides for flexible optical wiring

Opt Express. 2009 Oct 26;17(22):19435-43. doi: 10.1364/OE.17.019435.

Abstract

We present improved characteristics of the curved plasmonic waveguide which consists of a thin metal stripe with asymmetric cladding layers. It is shown that in the proposed curved asymmetric plasmonic waveguides, a balance between a radiation due to bending and a radiation due to the asymmetric claddings allows a bending with a smaller radius curvature and a lower loss compared to the waveguide with symmetric claddings. At the same time, a symmetric metal stripe waveguide's typical trade-off between the bending characteristics and the propagation loss of a straight waveguide is relaxed with proper amount of asymmetry. With the proposed structure, a plasmonic waveguide bending whose radius is as small as 2 mm with a total loss of 1.8 dB/90 degrees is designed. Enhanced sensitivity to the surrounding medium and its application are discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Computer Simulation
  • Computer-Aided Design
  • Elastic Modulus
  • Energy Transfer
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Fiber Optic Technology / instrumentation*
  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Surface Plasmon Resonance / instrumentation*