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Plasmonic all-optical metal–insulator–metal switches based on silver nano-rods, comprehensive theoretical analysis and design guidelines

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Abstract

In this paper, all-optical plasmonic switches are proposed and analyzed. These structures consist of a rectangular resonator filled with a Kerr-type material (AuSiO2) which is coupled to isolated metal–insulator–metal plasmonic waveguides. The resonators contain periodic arrays of nano-rods with rectangular and triangular patterns. The horizontal and vertical waveguides are used for data and control signals, respectively. Using two separate paths for the data and control signals results in suitable isolation between the signals. The finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is used for numerical investigation of the designed structures. To provide more insight, the FDTD results of the building blocks of the switches are compared with transmission line method results. The most important benefits of the proposed topologies are requiring lower pump intensities, needing smaller footprints and having isolated data and control ports. The proposed switch needs a pump intensity equal to 193.2 mW/μm2 and requires a 0.593 μm2 footprint area. A 11.3 dB contrast ratio exists between the On and Off states of the switch. Based on the mentioned advantages, these switches have the potential to be used in complex integrated optical circuits.

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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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Khani, S., Danaie, M. & Rezaei, P. Plasmonic all-optical metal–insulator–metal switches based on silver nano-rods, comprehensive theoretical analysis and design guidelines. J Comput Electron 20, 442–457 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10825-020-01638-8

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