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High Extinction Ratio All-Optical Modulator Using a Vanadium-Dioxide Integrated Hybrid Plasmonic Waveguide

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Abstract

The combination of vanadium dioxide with waveguides has attracted remarkable attention for terahertz applications. Here, a novel all-optical modulator with high performance based on coupling between photonic and plasmonic modes is proposed and analyzed numerically and theoretically. The hybrid modulator is composed of the grating metal-insulator-metal layers of Au/VO2/Au nanostructures which are located in silicon waveguide periodically. The improved coupled-mode theory is used to validate the performance of the proposed structure theoretically. The maximum extinction ratio and minimum insertion loss of 18.7 dB and 4.15 dB in 1.55-μm wavelength is obtained. The high optical bandwidth of 76 nm with the extinction ratio more than 15 dB over the optical range is computed. Also, the length and the cross section of the modulator are 0.9 μm and 0.11 μm2, respectively. The proposed structure could be a highly promising candidate as it works significantly in remote communication systems due to the high extinction ratio and low insertion loss as well as small footprint for integrated circuits.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Iran

    Fatemeh Moradiani, Mahmood Seifouri & Fatemeh Geran Gharakhili

  2. Faculty of Computer and Electrical Engineering, University of Shahid Beheshti, Tehran, Iran

    Kambiz Abedi

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  1. Fatemeh Moradiani
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  2. Mahmood Seifouri
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  3. Kambiz Abedi
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  4. Fatemeh Geran Gharakhili
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Correspondence to Mahmood Seifouri.

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Moradiani, F., Seifouri, M., Abedi, K. et al. High Extinction Ratio All-Optical Modulator Using a Vanadium-Dioxide Integrated Hybrid Plasmonic Waveguide. Plasmonics 16, 189–198 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11468-020-01276-7

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