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Plasmonic all-optical modulator based on the coupling of a surface Plasmon stub-filter and a meandered MIM waveguide

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Abstract

In this paper, an all-optical plasmonic modulator with a tunable data wavelength is designed. This structure consists of a stub filter (a metal–insulator–metal straight waveguide connected to a single stub) coupled to a metal–insulator–metal meandered waveguide. The data and control signals are injected into the straight and meandered waveguides, respectively. Using two separate waveguides for data and control signals prevents these signals from interfering with each other. The metal and non-linear Kerr materials which are used in the designed structure are silver and InGaAsP, respectively. The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method is used for the numerical investigation of the proposed structure. The data and control wavelengths of 1091 and 1600 nm have been used for the proposed structure. It is worth mentioning that based on the simulation results, the maximum transmittance of the data wavelength can be modulated from 8.1 to 50.2% by applying both data and control signals, simultaneously. This amplitude modulation results in a high extinction ratio of 15.28 dB. To provide a better prospect of the modulation mechanism, the time-domain behavior of the designed structure is also investigated. Furthermore, the stub filter’s structure is analyzed using the transmission line method to verify the FDTD simulations. Taking into account specifications such as having separate and isolated paths for data and control signals, requiring a relatively small footprint area of 1.175 μm2 (considering two waveguides), tunable data wavelength and symmetrical structure, the designed topology can be employed in complex integrated optical circuits.

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Data availability and materials

The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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  1. Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran

    Shiva Khani, Mohammad Danaie & Pejman Rezaei

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  1. Shiva Khani
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Design, analysis and investigation: Shiva Khani; Writing—original draft preparation: Shiva Khani; Writing—review and editing: Shiva Khani and Mohammad Danaie; Supervision Mohammad Danaie and Pejman Rezaei.

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Correspondence to Shiva Khani.

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We the undersigned declare that the manuscript entitled "Plasmonic All-Optical Modulator Based on the Coupling of a Surface Plasmon Stub-Filter and a Meandered MIM Waveguide" is original, has not been fully or partly published before, and is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere. Also, results are presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification or inappropriate data manipulation. We confirm that the manuscript has been read and approved by all named authors and that there are no other persons who satisfied the criteria for authorship but are not listed. We further confirm that the order of authors listed in the manuscript has been approved by all of us.

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Khani, S., Danaie, M. & Rezaei, P. Plasmonic all-optical modulator based on the coupling of a surface Plasmon stub-filter and a meandered MIM waveguide. Opt Quant Electron 54, 849 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-022-04227-0

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