Electrically-driven surface plasmonic nano-circuits

Abstract

We demonstrated electrically-driven subwavelength surface plasmonic nano-circuits integrating gap-plasmon emitting nano-LEDs and deep-subwavelength slot waveguides with a cross-sectional area of ~0.016λ2 for the first time. Owing to the Purcell enhancement within the extremely small, metal-clad active region of the nano-LED, gap-plasmons are extracted efficiently. The gap-plasmons propagating along the low-loss slot waveguide are routed to bends, T-splitters, free-space couplers and directional couplers. The electrically-driven surface plasmonic nanocircuits will provide a meaningful step for interfacing high-speed photonic devices and ultracompact electronic components.