Modeling, fabrication and high power optical characterization of plasmonic waveguides

This paper describes modeling, fabrication and high power optical characterization of thin gold films embedded in silicon dioxide. The propagation vector of surface plasmon polaritons has been calculated by the effective index method for the wavelength range of 750-1700 nm and film thickness of 15, 30 and 45 nm. The fabrication process of such plasmonic waveguides with width in the range of 1-100 μm and their quality inspection are described. The results of optical characterization of plasmonic waveguides using a high power laser with the peak power wavelength 1064 nm show significant deviation from the linear propagation regime of surface plasmon polaritons at the average input power of 100 mW and above. Possible reasons for this deviation are heating of the waveguides and subsequent changes in the coupling and propagation losses.