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Design of All-Optical Directional Coupler Using Plasmonic MIM Waveguide for Switching Applications

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Abstract

In this paper, we have proposed, analyzed, and verified the performance of an optimized plasmonic 10-dB directional coupler and a 3-dB directional coupler in 2-D plasmonic waveguides using the finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) method. A plasmonic 10-dB directional coupler and a 3-dB directional coupler are based on the metal–insulator-metal (MIM) slab waveguide and analyzed at the telecommunication wavelength (λ) of 1550 nm. Here, coupling and transmission characteristics are analyzed with the optimized separation distance between the two parallel waveguides. The developed approach ensures the minimization of the crosstalk and overall directional coupler length via simultaneous adjustment of the separation distance between the parallel waveguide and the length of the linear waveguide. Then, an optimized structure is acquired by trading off between coupling length and separation distance. The proposed 10-dB directional coupler and 3-dB directional coupler feature good energy confinement, ultra-compact, and low propagation loss, which has potential applications in photonic integrated devices, optical signal processors, and other all-optical switching devices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, College of Engineering, Anna University, Guindy, Sardar Patel Road, Chennai, 600025, Tamilnadu, India

    Rupalin Nanda

  2. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Anna University, Guindy, Sardar Patel Road, Chennai, 600025, Tamilnadu, India

    Ramakrushna Rath

  3. Photonics Lab, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, G. Pullaiah College of Engineering and Technology, Nandikotkur Road, Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, 518002, India

    Sandip Swarnakar

  4. Shandong Key Laboratory of Optical Communication Science and Technology, School of Physics Science and Information Technology, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, 252059, Shandong, China

    Santosh Kumar

Authors
  1. Rupalin Nanda
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  2. Ramakrushna Rath
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  3. Sandip Swarnakar
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  4. Santosh Kumar
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Contributions

Rupalin Rath: investigation, formal analysis, and writing—original draft. Ramakrushna Rath: formal analysis and methodology. Sandip Swarnakar: conceptualization, investigation, formal analysis, writing—original draft, methodology, and supervision. Santosh Kumar: validation, writing—review, and editing.

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Correspondence to Sandip Swarnakar or Santosh Kumar.

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Nanda, R., Rath, R., Swarnakar, S. et al. Design of All-Optical Directional Coupler Using Plasmonic MIM Waveguide for Switching Applications. Plasmonics 17, 2153–2159 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11468-022-01695-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11468-022-01695-8

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