All-optical logic binary encoder based on asymmetric plasmonic nanogrooves

We report an all-optical logic binary encoder based on two asymmetric plasmonic nanogrooves etched in a gold film coated a polyvinyl alcohol layer. The physical mechanism originates from the unique capability of plasmonic nanogrooves in modulating the propagation properties of surface plasmon polaritons. The incident signal lights dropping in different wavelength regions are endowed with different logic state encodings. In such an ultracompact device with a feature size of only 2.4 μm, the coupling of free-space signal lights to surface plasmon polaritons and the on-chip encoding are integrated together, which is much suitable for practical integration applications.

[1]  Tanay Chattopadhyay,et al.  An all-optical technique for a binary-to-quaternary encoder and a quaternary-to-binary decoder , 2009 .

[2]  S. Fan,et al.  Side-coupled cavity model for surface plasmon-polariton transmission across a groove. , 2009, Optics express.

[3]  Q. Gong,et al.  Highly efficient all-optical control of surface-plasmon-polariton generation based on a compact asymmetric single slit. , 2011, Nano letters.

[4]  P Lalanne,et al.  Approximate model for surface-plasmon generation at slit apertures. , 2006, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.

[5]  H. Lezec,et al.  All-optical modulation by plasmonic excitation of CdSe quantum dots , 2007 .

[6]  W. Cai,et al.  A submicron plasmonic dichroic splitter. , 2011, Nature communications.

[7]  Ji-Hun Kang,et al.  Control of surface plasmon generation efficiency by slit-width tuning , 2008 .

[8]  Q. Gong,et al.  Ultracompact surface-plasmon-polariton splitter based on modulations of quasicylindrical waves to the total field , 2011 .

[9]  Yang Wang,et al.  Simultaneous demonstration on all-optical digital encoder and comparator at 40 Gb/s with semiconductor optical amplifiers. , 2007, Optics express.

[10]  Albert Polman,et al.  How grooves reflect and confine surfaceplasmon polaritons. , 2009, Optics express.

[11]  R. W. Christy,et al.  Optical Constants of the Noble Metals , 1972 .

[12]  Xiang Zhang,et al.  A submicron broadband surface-plasmon-polariton unidirectional coupler , 2013, Scientific Reports.

[13]  Tanay Chattopadhyay,et al.  All-optical conversion scheme: Binary to quaternary and quaternary to binary number , 2009 .

[14]  Rajinder Singh Kaler,et al.  Implentation of optical encoder and multiplexer using Mach–Zehnder inferometer , 2011 .