Miniaturization of photonic waveguides by the use of left-handed materials

摘要

We propose the use of a left-handed material in an optical waveguidestructure to reduce its thickness well below the wavelength of light. Wedemonstrate that a layer of left-handed material, added to the cladding of aplanar waveguide rather than to its core, allows for good light confinement ina subwavelength thin waveguide. We attribute the observed behavior to thechange in phase evolution of electromagnetic waves in the guide. This techniquecan be used for the miniaturization of photonic integrated circuits.