Application of highly conductive ZnO to the excitation of long-range plasmons in symmetric hybrid waveguides

Monica S. Allen; Jeffery W. Allen; Brett R. Wenner; David C. Look; Kevin D. Leedy

doi:10.1117/1.OE.52.6.064603

26 June 2013 Application of highly conductive ZnO to the excitation of long-range plasmons in symmetric hybrid waveguides

Monica S. Allen, Jeffery W. Allen, Brett R. Wenner, David C. Look, Kevin D. Leedy

Author Affiliations +

Optical Engineering, Vol. 52, Issue 6, 064603 (June 2013). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.52.6.064603

Abstract

Plasmonics combines attractive features of nanoelectronics and optics enabling highly integrated, subwavelength optical and electronic circuits. The wide application of plasmonic devices hinges on practical demonstrations with low losses at optical and infrared wavelengths. In this frequency regime, noble metals suffer from large losses that are difficult to compensate by adding gain material. Transparent conducting oxides, e.g., ZnO, are good alternatives to metals for plasmonic applications in the optical regime since they exhibit high conductivity and relatively small negative real permittivity values. We study Ga-doped ZnO layers grown on Al₂ O₃ at 200°C by pulsed laser deposition in Ar ambient. The bulk electrical properties, determined by Hall effect, were ρ=2.93×10 ⁻⁴ Ω-cm ; μ=25.5 cm ² /V-s ; and [i]n=8.36×10 ²⁰ cm −³ . These values of μ and n were used to predict optical properties through the Drude dielectric function. The optical and electrical properties of the material were used to design insulator-metal-insulator (in our case, ZnO embedded in polymer) waveguides for long-range plasmons using full-wave electromagnetic models built with finite element method simulations. The models were used to predict the effect of device geometry on propagation length and losses of the plasmon mode.

Citation Download Citation

Monica S. Allen, Jeffery W. Allen, Brett R. Wenner, David C. Look, and Kevin D. Leedy "Application of highly conductive ZnO to the excitation of long-range plasmons in symmetric hybrid waveguides," Optical Engineering 52(6), 064603 (26 June 2013). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.52.6.064603

Published: 26 June 2013

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available