ABSTRACT
We introduce a new type of electroplasmonic interfacing component to electrically generate surface plasmons. Specifically, an electron-fed optical tunneling gap antenna is integrated on a plasmonic waveguiding platform. When electrical charges are injected in the tunneling barrier of the gap antenna, a broad-band radiation is emitted from the feed area by a process identified as a thermal emission of hot electrons. Part of the emitted photons couples to surface plasmon modes sustained by the waveguide geometry. The transducing optical antenna is thus acting as a localized electrical source of surface plasmon polaritons. The integration of electrically-activated optical antennas into a plasmonic architecture mitigates the need for complex coupling scheme and proposes a solution for realizing nanoscale units at the interface between nano-electronics and photonics.
ABSTRACT
We present a simple method to accurately measure the effective thermal resistance of a photonic crystal microcavity. The cavity is embedded between two Schottky contacts forming a metal-semiconductor-metal device. The photocarriers circulating in the device provide a local temperature rise that can be dominated by Joule effect under certain conditions. We show that the effective thermal resistance (R(th)) can be experimentally deduced from the spectral shift of the cavity resonance wavelength measured at different applied bias. We deduce a value of R(th)1.6×10(4) KW(-1) for a microcavity on silicon-on-insulator, which is in good agreement with 3D thermal modeling by finite elements.
