Abstract

We studied active lossless single-interface surface plasmon polariton (SPP) waveguides with extremely short guided wavelengths and optimally designed a nanometer-size active lossless single-mode dielectric-loaded SPP waveguide (DLSPPW). The sufficient condition, under which both lossless propagation and extremely short guided wavelength can be achieved simultaneously in active single-interface SPP waveguides, is presented. Under the same condition, the gain coefficient of the active medium reaches its maximum. These maximum gain coefficients are calculated in cases when the metals Au, Ag, and Cu are used, respectively, operating in wavelengths ranging from 330 to $1600\mathrm{nm}$. From the above calculation results, the working wavelength and metal are selected for the active DLSPPW. A single-mode lossless DLSPPW is designed and optimized using the effective index and finite element methods in vacuum wavelength $450\mathrm{nm}$. In this waveguide, 95% of the energy flux is constrained within a core area with thickness of $20\mathrm{nm}$ and width of $22\mathrm{nm}$.

© 2011 Optical Society of America

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