Photonic Signal Processing on-Electronic Scales: Electro-Optical Field-Effect Nanoplasmonic Modulator

摘要

We develop a highly efficient approach for the modulation of photonic signals at the nanoscale, combining an ultrasubwavelength plasmonic guiding scheme with a robust electroabsorption effect in degenerate semiconductors. We numerically demonstrate an active electro-optical field-effect nanoplasmonic modulator with a revolutionary size of just 25 × 30 × 100 nm~3, providing signal extinction ratios as high as 2 at switching voltages of only 1 V. The design is compatible with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology and allows low-loss insertion in standard plasmonic and Si-photonic circuitry.