Compact, high-speed and power-efficient electrooptic plasmonic modulators

Nano Lett. 2009 Dec;9(12):4403-11. doi: 10.1021/nl902701b.

Abstract

CMOS compatible electrooptic plasmonic modulators are slated to be key components in chip-scale photonic circuits. In this work, we investigate detailed design and optimization protocols for electrooptic plasmonic modulators that are suitable for free-space coupling and on-chip integration. The metallic structures in the proposed devices offer simultaneous electric and optical functions. The resonance-enhanced nonlinear interaction and submicrometer-footprint of these devices meet the stringent requirements for future CMOS modulators, allowing for high-speed operation (>100 GHz) with a decent modulation depth (>3 dB) and moderate insertion loss (<3 dB) at a very low swing voltage ( approximately 1 V) and power dissipation ( approximately 1 fJ/bit). The realization of the proposed structures appears feasible with current materials and lithographic techniques.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Electronics / instrumentation*
  • Energy Transfer
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Nanotechnology / instrumentation*
  • Optical Devices*
  • Refractometry / instrumentation*
  • Surface Plasmon Resonance / instrumentation*
  • Transducers*