One of the major restrictions of plasmonic waveguides is their short propagation lengths. Although hybrid structures have been introduced to overcome this problem, the propagation length has not exceeded tens of micrometers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and select suitable materials in order to increase the propagation lengths of hybrid plasmonic waveguides further. To achieve this goal, the effects of using Si₃N₄, Nb₂O₅, and TiO₂ dielectric materials and Al, Ag, and Au metals on characteristics of waveguides have been investigated. The numerical results show that proper selection of materials has significant effect on increasing the propagation lengths of these waveguides. According to the simulation results, using an Ag-SiO₂-Si₃N₄ structure, the propagation length can be increased to more than 4mm at the wavelength of 1.55 micrometers.

Keywords: hybrid plasmonic waveguide, propagation length, surface plasmon

Full-Text [PDF 554 kb]   (1031 Downloads)