CMOS compatible multi-band plasmonic TE-pass polarizer

TL;DR

This paper proposes a CMOS-compatible multi-band plasmonic TE-pass polarizer using an integrated hybrid plasmonic waveguide with segmented metal design, achieving high extinction ratios and low insertion losses across multiple optical communication bands.

Contribution

It introduces a novel segmented metal design in hybrid plasmonic waveguides for efficient TE-pass polarization filtering compatible with CMOS technology.

Findings

Achieves polarization extinction ratios >20 dB across all bands.

Maintains insertion losses below 1.7 dB.

Operates effectively over O, E, S, C, L, and U bands.

Abstract

A CMOS-compatible plasmonic TE-pass polarizer capable of working in the O, E, S, C, L, and U bands is numerically analyzed. The device is based on an integrated hybrid plasmonic waveguide (HPW) with a segmented metal design. The segmented metal will avoid the propagation of the TM mode, confined in the slot of the HPW, while the TE fundamental mode will pass. The TE mode is not affected by the metal segmentation since it is confined in the core of the HPW. The concept of the segmented metal can be exploited in a plasmonic circuit with HPWs as the connecting waveguides between parts of the circuit and in a silicon photonics circuit with strip or slab waveguides connecting the different parts of the circuit. Using 3D FDTD simulations, it is shown that for a length of 5.5 {\mu}m the polarization extinction ratios are better than 20 dB and the insertion losses are less than 1.7 dB over all the optical communication bands.