Electrically-Reconfigurable Passive and Active Circuits in a Single Plasmonic Architecture

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel plasmonic waveguide architecture that enhances multiple optoelectronic functionalities simultaneously, overcoming traditional trade-offs and enabling reconfigurable, high-performance plasmonic circuits.

Contribution

It presents a unique, bias-configurable plasmonic waveguide that improves emission, detection, and light-matter interaction efficiencies in a single structure.

Findings

Normalized Purcell factor approaching 10^4

10-dB amplitude modulation with <1 dB insertion loss

Photodetection sensitivity of -54 dBm and quantum efficiency of 6.4%

Abstract

Guided-wave plasmonic circuits are promising platforms for sensing, interconnection, and quantum applications in the sub-diffraction regime. Nonetheless, the loss-confinement trade-off remains a collective bottleneck for plasmonic-enhanced optical processes. Here, we report a unique plasmonic waveguide that can alleviate such trade-off and improve the efficiencies of plasmonic-based emission, light-matter-interaction, and detection simultaneously. Through different bias configurations, record experimental attributes such as normalized Purcell factor approaching 10^4, 10-dB amplitude modulation with <1 dB insertion loss and fJ-level switching energy, and photodetection sensitivity and internal quantum efficiency of -54 dBm and 6.4 % respectively can be realized within the same amorphous-based plasmonic structure. The ability to support multiple optoelectronic phenomena while providing performance gains over existing plasmonic and dielectric counterparts offers a clear path towards reconfigurable, monolithic plasmonic circuits.