1.
Opt Express
; 16(20): 15546-52, 2008 Sep 29.
Artigo
em Inglês
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-18825193
RESUMO
We demonstrate plasmonic nanowire-based thermo-optic variable optical attenuators operating in the 1525-1625 nm wavelength range. The devices have a footprint as low as 1 mm, extinction ratio exceeding 40 dB, driving voltage below 3 V, and full modulation bandwidth of 1 kHz. The polarization dependent loss is shown to be critically dependent on the nanowire geometry but devices with polarization-dependent loss as low as +/-2.5 dB PDL over most of the attenuation range have been fabricated. We propose an even more compact device design to reduce insertion loss to approximately 1 dB.