Two-dimensional light confinement in cross-index-modulation plasmonic waveguides

Opt Lett. 2012 Jul 15;37(14):2934-6. doi: 10.1364/OL.37.002934.

Abstract

We report a numerical study of plasmonic waveguides that localize light in two dimensions at a cross section of 4.2 nm × 2.1 nm with the propagation length of 38 μm. By varying the geometrical parameters, strong mode confinements (range from λ(2)/3352 to λ(2)/2557525) are achieved with controllable propagation distance (44.68-40.988 μm), and mode size below 1 nm(2) has been demonstrated for the first time. Furthermore, a cross-index-modulation mechanism is proposed to explain the strong field localization behavior, providing guidelines for future waveguide designs.