Transmission of long-range surface plasmon-polaritons across gap in Au waveguide

Optical loss induced by the arbitrary structure discontinuity in the Au stripe that supports long-range surface plasmon-polaritons (LRSPPs) propagation is investigated in this paper. A broad range of arbitrary gap sizes, 4 to 20 μm, is reported for 25 nm thick Au stripe with different widths embedded in 5 μm thick optically symmetric polymer SU-8. The simulations and experimental data find a high tunneling efficiency of the long-range mode power transmission of larger than 50% over a 10 μm gap at a wavelength of 1550 nm. Accordingly, a thermally activated in-line Mach–Zehnder interferometer switch based on the guiding of LRSPPs along Au stripe with gaps is designed and fabricated. Switching characteristics are analyzed upon heating one arm of the interferometer through the passage of current therein. The fabricated switch exhibits an extinction ratio of 17 dB with a driving power of 13 mW. The results prove that LRSPPs are insensitive to technological imperfections and waveguide interruptions, which is of benefit to active plasmonic device applications. (paper)