Cu-insulator-Si hybrid plasmonic waveguide based CMOS-compatible Nanophotonic Devices

Vertical Cu-insulator-Si hybrid plasmonic waveguides (HPWs) along with various passive components are fabricated on a silicon-on-insulator platform using standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), technology and characterized at 1550-nm telecom wavelengths. The HPW exhibits relatively low propagation loss of -0.12 dB/μm and high coupling efficiency of -86% with the conventional Si strip waveguide. A plasmonic waveguide-ring resonator with 1.09-μm radius exhibits extinction ratio of -13.7 dB, free spectral range of -106 nm, and Q-factor of -63. By applying a voltage between the metal cap and the Si core, the propagation property of HPW can be modulated to realize ultra-compact EO modulators.