Abstract
To increase data transmission rates and capacity in future optical transmission systems, we proposed nanometer-scale photonic integrated circuits that are composed of sub- 100-nm scale dots and wires.1 Since coupling these devices with conventional external devices requires a nanometerscale waveguide for far/near-field conversion, we propose a plasmon waveguide [see Fig. 1(a)]. The main part consists of a Si wedge and a metal core waveguide. Incoming light is first transformed into the two-dimensional (2-D) surface plasmon (SP) mode on the F1 side [see Fig. 1(c)]. The performance required for this type of waveguide includes: (A) high conversion efficiency, (B) a sub- 100-nm beam width for efficient coupling of the converted optical near-field to sub- 100-nm dots, (C) a wavelength-order propagation length to avoid direct coupling of the far-field light to the nanometer-scale dots. Next, the scattering coupling converts the 2-D SP mode into the 1 -D TM- plasmon mode at the edge between F1 and the plateau.2 Third, the TM-plasmon mode propagates along the plateau. This propagation occurs because the metal film deposited on the plateau is thicker than that on the other faces due to the normal evaporation process. Consequently, the plateau acts as a metal core waveguide. Since this waveguide does not have a cutoff, the beam width decreases with the core diameter, to as narrow as 1 nm. Finally, the TM-plasmon mode is converted to the optical near-field.
© 2002 Optical Society of America
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