Research On Novel Photonic Components Based On Surface Plasmon Polaritons

In state-of-the-art data communication systems, optical components are playing a more and more important role, because of their ability to make good use of the wide bandwidth of optical fibers. The development of conventional photonic circuits is hindered by diffraction limit, preventing their miniaturization toward the nanoscale which is required for integration with electronics. Currently, the possible approachs that are considered to be potentially promising for subwavelength photonic devices are photonic crystal structures, surface plasmon polariton (SPP) structures and so on. In this thesis, in order to achieve the design of subwavelength photonic devices, several waveguides, passive components, modulators and photonic receiver which are based on surface plasmon polaritons are proposed and investigated.The development and challenge of photonics is introduced at the beginning of the thesis, and surface plasmon polariton is proposed to be the potentional solution to achieve subwavelength photonic components. After that, the dispersion function of metal and the SPP at single metal/insulator interface is analysed and the excitation methods of SPP is discussed. Based on the regular SPP, multi-layer structure of SPP is proposed and discussed, the dispersion equations are given and two basic structures of MIM and IMI are discussed.The structure of long range dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguide (LR-DLSPPW) using Cytop as dielectric layer is proposed and numerically analysed. The dimensions of the waveguide are optimized to achieve long propagation length and compact mode width, as well as the bendloss and coupling length. A race track resonantor based on DL-SPPW is proposed and the dimensions are optimized.In the following, CMOS-compatible long-range dielectric-loaded plasmonic waveguides featuring long propagation lengths and strong mode confinements are designed and studied using the finiteelement method. And the bending loss and coupling length of the wavegudeis are both calculated to evaluate the applicability of the proposed device for high density integration and a figure of merit is proposed to show the tradeoff between the propagation length and the lateral mode width in the application of plasmonic devices.The fabraction processes of SPP waveguides and components are investigated, such as film depositon, electron beam lithography (EBL), development, lift-off and so on. The waveguides and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer based on LR-DLSPPW are fabricated and the characteristics are measured.A wideband electro-optic polymer light modulator based on long range SPRs is proposed and numerically investigated. The modulator combines an ATR structure to excite long range SPRs and a CPW structure to enlarge the operating frequency with high modulating efficiency. An all optical modulator based on long range surface plasmon resonance with respect to Kerr effect induced refractive index changes is proposed and numerically investigated. The photosensitivity of the Kerr-polymer induces the variation of refractive index with different intensity of pump light. Long range surface plasmon resonance excited by an attenuated total internal reflection structure is utilized in the design for its high sensitivity to refractive index.The spetra characteristic of tilted fiber Bragg grating is discussed and the fabrication process is reviewed. After an introduction of fiber grating sensor, a refractive index sensor with enhanced sensitivity is demonstrated utilizating stimulated Brillioun scattering (SBS). Based on SPP based fiber grating sensors, a novel fiber RF antenna with coaxial structure is proposed. With the coaxial structure, optical waveguide, surface plasmon waveguide and radio frequency waveguide are combined together. The modulation of the antenna received radio frequency signal on optical carrier is implemented based on the surface plasmon polaritons.In the end, the conclusion of the thesis is presented and the future research plans are made.