Abstract

An eigenvalue equation is derived for stratified metallic optical slab waveguides with any number of layers. The equation is solved using the numerical zoom analysis (NZA) method. The analysis is applied to various metallic optical slabs and the propagation characteristics of the guided waves are determined, which may be useful for optimizing the design parameters. It is found possible, with proper optimization, to design a polarizer having hundreds of decibels of extinction ratio at the cost of a fraction of a decibel of insertion loss. Examples of optimizations with respect to wavelength, relative refractive indices, core/clad geometries, etc. are demonstrated for slabs with single or double metal layers. Guidelines for determining the metal film thickness have been formulated and tabulated for many useful metals.

© 1988 Optical Society of America

Modal propagation characteristics of radially stratified and D-shaped metallic optical fibers

Charles Y. H. Tsao, David N. Payne, and Luksun Li
Appl. Opt. 28(3) 588-594 (1989)

Guided even and odd modes in symmetric periodic stratified dielectric waveguides

Yi-Fan Li and John W. Y. Lit
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 5(7) 1050-1057 (1988)

Modal characteristics of three-layered optical fiber waveguides: a modified approach

Charles Y. H. Tsao, David N. Payne, and W. Alec Gambling
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 6(4) 555-563 (1989)

Propagation Characteristics of a Partially Metal-Clad Optical Guide: Metal-Clad Optical Strip Line

Y. Yamamoto, T. Kamiya, and H. Yanai
Appl. Opt. 14(2) 322-326 (1975)

Analysis of metal-clad optical waveguide polarizers by the vector beam propagation method

Lizhong Sun and Gar Lam Yip
Appl. Opt. 33(6) 1047-1050 (1994)