Silicon-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguides for nanosecond thermo-optical switching

A MHz-bandwidth thermo-optical (TO) plasmonic switch operating at telecommunication wavelengths and based on a hybrid solid-state silicon-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguide design is demonstrated numerically. The nanosecond (ns) TO response of the switch is due to the high thermal conductivities of the employed materials and we demonstrate specifically a 10 dB extinction ratio in the time-dependent switch transmission which features a pulsed 1 ns rise time followed by a 25 ns fall time when the switch is photo-thermally activated by a ns pulse at 532 nm wavelength. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America