Graphene Nanoribbon Gap Waveguides for Dispersionless and Low-Loss Propagation with Deep-Subwavelength Confinement

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) have been attracting considerable attention owing to their unique capabilities of manipulating light. However, the intractable dispersion and high loss are two major obstacles for attaining high-performance plasmonic devices. Here, a graphene nanoribbon gap waveguid...

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Main Authors: Zhiyong Wu, Lei Zhang, Tingyin Ning, Hong Su, Irene Ling Li, Shuangchen Ruan, Yu-Jia Zeng, Huawei Liang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
Series:Nanomaterials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/5/1302
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author Zhiyong Wu
Lei Zhang
Tingyin Ning
Hong Su
Irene Ling Li
Shuangchen Ruan
Yu-Jia Zeng
Huawei Liang
author_facet Zhiyong Wu
Lei Zhang
Tingyin Ning
Hong Su
Irene Ling Li
Shuangchen Ruan
Yu-Jia Zeng
Huawei Liang
author_sort Zhiyong Wu
collection DOAJ
description Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) have been attracting considerable attention owing to their unique capabilities of manipulating light. However, the intractable dispersion and high loss are two major obstacles for attaining high-performance plasmonic devices. Here, a graphene nanoribbon gap waveguide (GNRGW) is proposed for guiding dispersionless gap SPPs (GSPPs) with deep-subwavelength confinement and low loss. An analytical model is developed to analyze the GSPPs, in which a reflection phase shift is employed to successfully deal with the influence caused by the boundaries of the graphene nanoribbon (GNR). It is demonstrated that a pulse with a 4 μm bandwidth and a 10 nm mode width can propagate in the linear passive system without waveform distortion, which is very robust against the shape change of the GNR. The decrease in the pulse amplitude is only 10% for a propagation distance of 1 μm. Furthermore, an array consisting of several GNRGWs is employed as a multichannel optical switch. When the separation is larger than 40 nm, each channel can be controlled independently by tuning the chemical potential of the corresponding GNR. The proposed GNRGW may raise great interest in studying dispersionless and low-loss nanophotonic devices, with potential applications in the distortionless transmission of nanoscale signals, electro-optic nanocircuits, and high-density on-chip communications.
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spelling doaj.art-017868d5e1fa4d40b62266dd271769f62023-11-21T19:48:10ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912021-05-01115130210.3390/nano11051302Graphene Nanoribbon Gap Waveguides for Dispersionless and Low-Loss Propagation with Deep-Subwavelength ConfinementZhiyong Wu0Lei Zhang1Tingyin Ning2Hong Su3Irene Ling Li4Shuangchen Ruan5Yu-Jia Zeng6Huawei Liang7Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Laser Engineering, College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, ChinaKey Laboratory for Physical Electronics and Devices of the Ministry of Education and Shanxi Key Lab of Information Photonic Technique, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, ChinaShandong Provincial Engineering and Technical Center of Light Manipulations & Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optics and Photonic Device, School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, ChinaShenzhen Key Laboratory of Laser Engineering, College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, ChinaShenzhen Key Laboratory of Laser Engineering, College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, ChinaShenzhen Key Laboratory of Laser Engineering, College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, ChinaShenzhen Key Laboratory of Laser Engineering, College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, ChinaShenzhen Key Laboratory of Laser Engineering, College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, ChinaSurface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) have been attracting considerable attention owing to their unique capabilities of manipulating light. However, the intractable dispersion and high loss are two major obstacles for attaining high-performance plasmonic devices. Here, a graphene nanoribbon gap waveguide (GNRGW) is proposed for guiding dispersionless gap SPPs (GSPPs) with deep-subwavelength confinement and low loss. An analytical model is developed to analyze the GSPPs, in which a reflection phase shift is employed to successfully deal with the influence caused by the boundaries of the graphene nanoribbon (GNR). It is demonstrated that a pulse with a 4 μm bandwidth and a 10 nm mode width can propagate in the linear passive system without waveform distortion, which is very robust against the shape change of the GNR. The decrease in the pulse amplitude is only 10% for a propagation distance of 1 μm. Furthermore, an array consisting of several GNRGWs is employed as a multichannel optical switch. When the separation is larger than 40 nm, each channel can be controlled independently by tuning the chemical potential of the corresponding GNR. The proposed GNRGW may raise great interest in studying dispersionless and low-loss nanophotonic devices, with potential applications in the distortionless transmission of nanoscale signals, electro-optic nanocircuits, and high-density on-chip communications.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/5/1302graphene plasmonsdispersionlessdeep-subwavelength gapelectro-optic switchon-chip integration
spellingShingle Zhiyong Wu
Lei Zhang
Tingyin Ning
Hong Su
Irene Ling Li
Shuangchen Ruan
Yu-Jia Zeng
Huawei Liang
Graphene Nanoribbon Gap Waveguides for Dispersionless and Low-Loss Propagation with Deep-Subwavelength Confinement
Nanomaterials
graphene plasmons
dispersionless
deep-subwavelength gap
electro-optic switch
on-chip integration
title Graphene Nanoribbon Gap Waveguides for Dispersionless and Low-Loss Propagation with Deep-Subwavelength Confinement
title_full Graphene Nanoribbon Gap Waveguides for Dispersionless and Low-Loss Propagation with Deep-Subwavelength Confinement
title_fullStr Graphene Nanoribbon Gap Waveguides for Dispersionless and Low-Loss Propagation with Deep-Subwavelength Confinement
title_full_unstemmed Graphene Nanoribbon Gap Waveguides for Dispersionless and Low-Loss Propagation with Deep-Subwavelength Confinement
title_short Graphene Nanoribbon Gap Waveguides for Dispersionless and Low-Loss Propagation with Deep-Subwavelength Confinement
title_sort graphene nanoribbon gap waveguides for dispersionless and low loss propagation with deep subwavelength confinement
topic graphene plasmons
dispersionless
deep-subwavelength gap
electro-optic switch
on-chip integration
url https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/5/1302
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