Open AccessTheoretical study of nanophotonic directional couplers comprising near-field-coupled metal nanoparticles
Author(s) -
Petter Holmström,
Jun Yuan,
Min Qiu,
Lars Thylén,
A. M. Bratkovsky
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.19.007885
Subject(s) - nanophotonics , power dividers and directional couplers , photonics , materials science , nanoparticle , electronic circuit , near and far field , photonic integrated circuit , silver nanoparticle , optics , field (mathematics) , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , pure mathematics
The properties of integrated-photonics directional couplers composed of near-field-coupled arrays of metal nanoparticles are analyzed theoretically. It is found that it is possible to generate very compact, submicron length, high field-confinement and functionality devices with very low switch energies. The analysis is carried out for a hypothetical lossless silver to demonstrate the potential of this type of circuits for applications in telecom and interconnects. Employing losses of real silver, standalone devices with the above properties are still feasible in optimized metal nanoparticle structures.