Open AccessTunable photonic-like modes in graphene-coated nanowires
Author(s) -
ZhiYong Wu,
Tingyin Ning,
Jiaqi Li,
Min Zhang,
Hong Su,
Irene Ling Li,
Huawei Liang
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.27.035238
Subject(s) - graphene , photonics , surface plasmon polariton , multiphysics , materials science , nanowire , photonic crystal , plasmon , surface plasmon , photonic metamaterial , dispersion (optics) , optoelectronics , optics , waveguide , nanotechnology , physics , finite element method , thermodynamics
In this study, the dispersion equations of a graphene-coated nanowire (GN) are solved. It is found that in this waveguide, besides the surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), there is another branch of guided modes, called photonic-like modes. The propagation distances of the photonic-like modes can be five orders of magnitude longer than those of the SPPs. Moreover, they can be modulated in the range of 10 -4 to 1 m by changing the chemical potential of graphene. In particular, the mode field distributions remain nearly unchanged during the modulation. Based on the analysis performed using COMSOL Multiphysics, we further demonstrated that the propagation losses of the photonic-like modes are dependent on not only the chemical potential of graphene, but also the mode power proportion inside graphene. The photonic-like modes have tremendous potential to be used in optical switches, modulators, and switches in magnetic fields at the nanoscale.