Dresden 2011 – scientific programme
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DS: Fachverband Dünne Schichten
DS 38: Plasmonics and Nanophotonics O-V (jointly with HL and O)
DS 38.2: Talk
Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 15:15–15:30, WIL A317
Connecting antennas, waveguides and couplers in nanoplasmonics — •Arian Kriesch1,2,3, Jing Wen1,2, Daniel Ploss1,2,3, Peter Banzer1,2, and Ulf Peschel1,2 — 1MPI für die Physik des Lichts, Erlangen, Germany — 2Friedrich-Alexander-Universtität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany — 3Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT)
Subwavelength, plasmonic waveguides open the way to the manipulation of light in photonic circuits at the nanoscale. However, they demand new techniques to efficiently transfer light from the far-field into these highly confined waveguide modes. Recent technological progress has enabled the fabrication of plasmonic metal gap waveguides on dielectric substrates with a width in the range of a few tens of nanometers as well as connected optical nanoantennas by Focussed Ion Beam (FIB) and e-beam lithography. We present experimental measurements of the properties of such waveguides, namely transmission and bend losses, which are compared to Finite Element Method (FEM) calculations. Our optimized optical antennas (coupling efficiency from the far-field to waveguide ≈ 15%) allow for efficient, selective coupling to single waveguides. Utilizing these antennas together with a setup for high-numerical-aperture focal scanning, we have demonstrated and quantitatively analyzed the coupling between closely adjacent waveguides, thus realizing discrete diffraction and coupling effects in nanoplasmonic waveguide arrays. Efficient optical antennas, low loss bent waveguides and interwaveguide couplers are each a building block in future highly confined plasmonic nanocircuitry.