title: Silicon-based horizontal nanoplasmonic slot waveguides for on-chip integration.
abstract: Horizontal metal/insulator/Si/insulator/metal nanoplasmonic slot waveguide (PWG), which is inserted in a conventional Si wire waveguide, is fabricated using the standard Si-CMOS technology. A thin insulator between the metal and the Si core plays a key role: it not only increases the propagation distance as the theoretical prediction, but also prevents metal diffusion and/or metal-Si reaction. Cu-PWGs with the Si core width of ~134-21 nm and ~12-nm-thick SiO2 on each side exhibit a relatively low propagation loss of ~0.37-0.63 dB/µm around the telecommunication wavelength of 1550 nm, which is ~2.6 times smaller than the Al-counterparts. A simple tapered coupler can provide an effective coupling between the PWG and the conventional Si wire waveguide. The coupling efficiency as high as ~0.1-0.4 dB per facet is measured. The PWG allows a sharp bending. The pure bending loss of a Cu-PWG direct 90° bend is measured to be ~0.6-1.0 dB. These results indicate the potential for seamless integration of various functional nanoplasmonic devices in existing Si electronic photonic integrated circuits (Si-EPICs).
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microelectronics, A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), Singapore. zhusy@ime.a-star.edu.sg
authors.forename: Shiyang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: T Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Liow
authors.forename: G Q
authors.initials: GQ
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Kwong
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018511:Systems Integration
chemical_list: D012825:Silicon