A Comparison of Graphene and Noble Metals as Conductors for Plasmonic One-Dimensional Waveguides

This study presents the propagation properties of plasmonic slab waveguides based on graphene compared with noble metals. Transfer matrix theory as an analytical method and finite-element method as a numerical approach are applied for analysis of one-dimensional plasmonic structures. Calculating the guided mode propagation constants of the waveguides, characteristics of the waveguides are compared by three factors: propagation length, spatial length, and electromagnetic field profile. The results obtained here are very helpful to the guided-wave applications in terahertz and infrared frequencies.