Two-Dimensional Analysis Photothermal Properties in Nanoscale Plasmonic Waveguides for Optical Interconnect

The inevitable light absorption in plasmonic waveguides (PWs) gives rise to heating of waveguides themselves. Here the photothermal effects in nanowire PWs, slot PWs, channel PWs, dielectric-loaded PWs and hybrid PWs are investigated in the cross section. The resistive heating is significant for all waveguides. The thermal feature sizes of the PWs are the main factors limiting the integration density. The copper PWs show the largest temperature rise compared with the gold PWs, the silver PWs and the aluminum PWs. These findings unveil the physical properties of PWs from the photothermal perspective and provide insights into the underlying factors influencing the adoption of PWs in optical interconnect.