Adiabatic Nanofocusing in Hybrid Gap Plasmon Waveguides on the Silicon-on-Insulator Platform.

We present an experimental demonstration of a new class of hybrid gap plasmon waveguides on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. Created by the hybridization of the plasmonic mode of a gap in a thin metal sheet and the transverse-electric (TE) photonic mode of an SOI slab, this waveguide is designed for efficient adiabatic nanofocusing simply by varying the gap width. For gap widths greater than 100 nm, the mode is primarily photonic in character and propagation lengths can be many tens of micrometers. For gap widths below 100 nm, the mode becomes plasmonic in character with field confinement predominantly within the gap region and with propagation lengths of a few microns. We estimate the electric field intensity enhancement in hybrid gap plasmon waveguide tapers at 1550 nm by three-photon absorption of selectively deposited CdSe/ZnS quantum dots within the gap. Here, we show electric field intensity enhancements of up to 167 ± 26 for a 24 nm gap, proving the viability of low loss adiabatic nanofocusing on a commercially relevant photonics platform.

Plasmonic CROWs for Tunable Dispersion and High Quality Cavity Modes.

Coupled resonator optical waveguides (CROWs) have the potential to revolutionise integrated optics, to slow-light and enhance linear and non-linear optical phenomena. Here we exploit the broad resonances and subwavelength nature of localized surface plasmons in a compact CROW design where plasmonic nanoparticles are side coupled to a dielectric waveguide. The plasmonic CROW features a low loss central mode with a highly tunable dispersion, that avoids coupling to the plasmonic nanoparticles close to the band-edge. We show that this low loss character is preserved in finite plasmonic CROWs giving rise to Fabry-Perot type resonances that have high quality factors of many thousands, limited only by the CROW length. Furthermore we demonstrate that the proposed CROW design is surprisingly robust to disorder. By varying the geometric parameters one can not only reduce the losses into dissipative or radiative channels but also control the outcoupling of energy to the waveguide. The ability to minimise loss in plasmonic CROWs while maintaining dispersion provides an effective cavity design for chip-integrated laser devices and applications in linear and non-linear nano-photonics.

Silicon-based metal-loaded plasmonic waveguides for low-loss nanofocusing.

We introduce plasmonic waveguides based on metal loading of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates. Here slab waveguide modes hybridize with the plasmonic modes of either a metal nanowire or a slot in a metal film. By tapering a single dimension of either structure, the resulting hybrid mode can be converted from photon-like to plasmon-like, allowing up to millimeter-range transport and rapid nanoscale focusing down to mode areas ∼λ2/400. Metal loading is achievable with a single lithography step directly on SOI without the need for etching and, thus, opens practical possibilities for silicon nanoplasmonics.