High System Performance with Plasmonic Waveguides and Functional Devices

Photonics offers a solution to data communication between logic devices in computing systems; however, the integration of photonic components into electronic chips is rather limited due to their size incompatibility. Dimensions of photonic components are therefore being forced to be scaled down dramatically to achieve a much higher system performance. To integrate these nano-photonic components, surface plasmon-polaritons and/or energy transfer mechanisms are used to form plasmonic chips. In this paper, the operating principle of plasmonic waveguide devices is reviewed within the mid-infrared spectral region at the 2 ${\mu}m$ to 5 ${\mu}m$ range, including lossless signal propagation by introducing gain. Experimental results demonstrate that these plasmonic devices, of sizes approximately half of the operating free-space wavelengths, require less gain to achieve lossless propagation. Through optimization of device performance by means of methods such as the use of new plasmonic waveguide materials that exhibit a much lower minimal loss value, these plasmonic devices can significantly impact electronic systems used in data communications, signal processing, and sensors industries.