Nanoplasmonic waveguides: Towards applications in integrated nanophotonic circuits
Review article, 2015

The properties of propagating surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) along one-dimensional metal structures have been investigated for more than 10 years and are now well understood. Because of the high confinement of electromagnetic energy, propagating SPPs have been considered to represent one of the best potential ways to construct next-generation circuits that use light to overcome the speed limit of electronics. Many basic plasmonic components have already been developed. In this review, researches on plasmonic waveguides are reviewed from the perspective of plasmonic circuits. Several circuit components are constructed to demonstrate the basic function of an optical digital circuit. In the end of this review, a prototype for an SPP-based nanochip is proposed, and the problems associated with building such plasmonic circuits are discussed. A plasmonic chip that can be practically applied is expected to become available in the near future.

plasmonic chip

waveguide

nanophotonics

surface plasmons

plasmonic circuit

Author

Yurui Fang

Chalmers, Applied Physics, Bionanophotonics

Chinese Academy of Sciences

M. T. Sun

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Light: Science and Applications

20955545 (ISSN) 2047-7538 (eISSN)

Vol. 4 e294

Subject Categories

Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics

DOI

10.1038/lsa.2015.67

More information

Latest update

3/11/2021