Finite-width plasmonic waveguides with hyperbolic multilayer cladding

Engineering plasmonic metamaterials with anisotropic optical dispersion enables us to tailor the properties of metamaterial-based waveguides. We investigate plasmonic waveguides with dielectric cores and multilayer metal-dielectric claddings with hyperbolic dispersion. Without using any homogenization, we calculate the resonant eigenmodes of the finite-width cladding layers, and find agreement with the resonant features in the dispersion of the cladded waveguides. We show that at the resonant widths, the propagating modes of the waveguides are coupled to the cladding eigenmodes and hence, are strongly absorbed. By avoiding the resonant widths in the design of the actual waveguides, the strong absorption can be eliminated. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America