Miniaturization of photonic waveguides by the use of left-handed materials

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method for miniaturizing photonic waveguides by incorporating left-handed materials into the cladding, enabling subwavelength light confinement and potential advancements in photonic integrated circuits.

Contribution

The study demonstrates that adding a left-handed material layer to the cladding of a waveguide allows for significant miniaturization while maintaining effective light confinement.

Findings

Subwavelength waveguide confinement achieved

Left-handed cladding alters phase evolution of light

Potential for integrated photonic circuit miniaturization

Abstract

We propose the use of a left-handed material in an optical waveguide structure to reduce its thickness well below the wavelength of light. We demonstrate that a layer of left-handed material, added to the cladding of a planar waveguide rather than to its core, allows for good light confinement in a subwavelength thin waveguide. We attribute the observed behavior to the change in phase evolution of electromagnetic waves in the guide. This technique can be used for the miniaturization of photonic integrated circuits.