Optical interconnect using LRSPP transmission lines

Flexible hybrid LRSPP waveguides were developed for board-to-board optical interconnections, and their optical characteristics were investigated theoretically and experimentally. The propagation loss is less than 1.0 dB/cm with the metal stripe width of 1-5 μm and the bending loss for 180° bending of R = 2 mm was measured to be about 1 dB at a wavelength of 1310 nm. The 2.5-Gb/s optical signals were successfully transmitted via 7 cm-long flexible hybrid plsmonic waveguides under the bending radii down to 2 mm.