Sensitivity of Traveling Wave Photodetectors in Superconducting Fiber Plasmon–Polariton Optical Waveguides

Abstract

By using an analytical model and a finite element method, we investigate a new, very sensitive, superconducting traveling wave photodetector made by a fiber waveguide, which includes a high index layer, a metallic layer, and an active superconducting layer. A comparison with the corresponding superconducting box shaped waveguide shows that a larger number of modes (HE₁₁, TM₀₁ and HE₁₂) are obtained in optical fiber due to the surface plasmon–polariton modes at the interfaces between gold and air layers or between gold and YBCO layers. The radial component of the electric field is perpendicular to the metal surface and has sign changes at the gold boundaries as in the simple case of surface plasmon polaritons on metal cylinder with dielectric core. In a structure of the fiber with six layers, the imaginary parts of the TM₀₁, HE₁₂ modes, and the power absorption efficiency in superconducting layer are larger in comparison with that of the fiber with five layers. The confinement regimes of the light and the power absorption efficiency in superconducting layer can be optimized by only acting on the fiber geometry.