Bismuth ferrite as low-loss switchable material for plasmonic waveguide modulator

Viktoriia Babicheva, Sergei Zhukovsky, Andrei Lavrinenko

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    Abstract

    We propose new designs of plasmonic modulators, which can beused for dynamic signal switching in photonic integrated circuits. We studyperformance of a plasmonic waveguide modulator with bismuth ferrite as atunable material. The bismuth ferrite core is sandwiched between metalplates (metal-insulator-metal configuration), which also serve as electrodes.The core changes its refractive index by means of partial in-plane to out-of-plane reorientation of ferroelectric domains in bismuth ferrite under appliedvoltage. As a result, guided modes change their propagation constant andabsorption coefficient, allowing light modulation in both phase andamplitude control schemes. Due to high field confinement between themetal layers, existence of mode cut-offs for certain values of the corethickness, and near-zero material losses in bismuth ferrite, efficientmodulation performance is achieved. For the phase control scheme, theπphase shift is provided by a 0.8-μm long device with propagation losses0.29 dB/μm. For the amplitude control scheme, up to 38 dB/μm extinctionratio with 1.2 dB/μm propagation loss is predicted.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalOptics Express
    Volume22
    Issue number23
    Pages (from-to)28890-28897
    ISSN1094-4087
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2014

    Bibliographical note

    This paper was published in Optics Express and is made available as an electronic reprint with the permission of OSA. The paper can be found at the following URL on the OSA website: http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-22-23-28890. Systematic or multiple reproduction or distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means is prohibited and is subject to penalties under law.

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