Nanoantenna-coupled broadband and ultra-compact plasmonic waveguide modulator based on graphene

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are propagating electromagnetic waves formed by the coupling of light with free electron collective oscillations. With the characteristics of breaking the diffraction limit and realizing subwavelength constraint, devices based on plasmonic architecture would have pr...

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Main Authors: Yijing Xu, Canran Zhang, Qilong Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AIP Publishing LLC 2025-05-01
Series:AIP Advances
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0266326
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author Yijing Xu
Canran Zhang
Qilong Wang
author_facet Yijing Xu
Canran Zhang
Qilong Wang
author_sort Yijing Xu
collection DOAJ
description Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are propagating electromagnetic waves formed by the coupling of light with free electron collective oscillations. With the characteristics of breaking the diffraction limit and realizing subwavelength constraint, devices based on plasmonic architecture would have promising applications in on-chip optoelectronic integrated systems. In this paper, we report an antenna-coupled plasmonic slot waveguide modulator based on graphene. The modulator integrates gold nanoantenna and plasmonic slot waveguide. The antenna couplers are utilized to efficiently excite SPPs in the nanoscale, achieving broadband high coupling efficiency. The plasmonic slot waveguides allow strong modal confinement with large in-plane electric field around the graphene region, which greatly enhances the interaction between light and graphene. Compared to conventional grating-coupled graphene modulators, our design achieves a more compact footprint and wider optical bandwidth. Our proposed modulator can obtain high modulation efficiency (0.85 dB/μm), broad modulation bandwidth (81.52 GHz), and low energy consumption (5.77 fJ/bit). The device also demonstrated a uniform electro-optic modulation with 500 nm optical bandwidth with wavelength from 1200 to 1700 nm. Our work provides a feasible approach for the design of ultra-compact nanoscale devices for future high-density integrated photonic chips.
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spelling doaj-art-9afbbe1f7bbf4714b625f0fbe7f4840f2025-08-20T03:20:36ZengAIP Publishing LLCAIP Advances2158-32262025-05-01155055009055009-1210.1063/5.0266326Nanoantenna-coupled broadband and ultra-compact plasmonic waveguide modulator based on grapheneYijing Xu0Canran Zhang1Qilong Wang2School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, ChinaSchool of Electronic Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, ChinaSchool of Electronic Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, ChinaSurface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are propagating electromagnetic waves formed by the coupling of light with free electron collective oscillations. With the characteristics of breaking the diffraction limit and realizing subwavelength constraint, devices based on plasmonic architecture would have promising applications in on-chip optoelectronic integrated systems. In this paper, we report an antenna-coupled plasmonic slot waveguide modulator based on graphene. The modulator integrates gold nanoantenna and plasmonic slot waveguide. The antenna couplers are utilized to efficiently excite SPPs in the nanoscale, achieving broadband high coupling efficiency. The plasmonic slot waveguides allow strong modal confinement with large in-plane electric field around the graphene region, which greatly enhances the interaction between light and graphene. Compared to conventional grating-coupled graphene modulators, our design achieves a more compact footprint and wider optical bandwidth. Our proposed modulator can obtain high modulation efficiency (0.85 dB/μm), broad modulation bandwidth (81.52 GHz), and low energy consumption (5.77 fJ/bit). The device also demonstrated a uniform electro-optic modulation with 500 nm optical bandwidth with wavelength from 1200 to 1700 nm. Our work provides a feasible approach for the design of ultra-compact nanoscale devices for future high-density integrated photonic chips.http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0266326
spellingShingle Yijing Xu
Canran Zhang
Qilong Wang
Nanoantenna-coupled broadband and ultra-compact plasmonic waveguide modulator based on graphene
AIP Advances
title Nanoantenna-coupled broadband and ultra-compact plasmonic waveguide modulator based on graphene
title_full Nanoantenna-coupled broadband and ultra-compact plasmonic waveguide modulator based on graphene
title_fullStr Nanoantenna-coupled broadband and ultra-compact plasmonic waveguide modulator based on graphene
title_full_unstemmed Nanoantenna-coupled broadband and ultra-compact plasmonic waveguide modulator based on graphene
title_short Nanoantenna-coupled broadband and ultra-compact plasmonic waveguide modulator based on graphene
title_sort nanoantenna coupled broadband and ultra compact plasmonic waveguide modulator based on graphene
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0266326
work_keys_str_mv AT yijingxu nanoantennacoupledbroadbandandultracompactplasmonicwaveguidemodulatorbasedongraphene
AT canranzhang nanoantennacoupledbroadbandandultracompactplasmonicwaveguidemodulatorbasedongraphene
AT qilongwang nanoantennacoupledbroadbandandultracompactplasmonicwaveguidemodulatorbasedongraphene