Integrated plasmonics amd Electro-optics

目前，信息技术中的一个根本瓶颈是与电互连相关的延迟。另一方面，光互连在速度和带宽方面上级电子互连，但光的衍射极限限制了小型化和高密度集成。 光学互连和电子设备的接口代表了信息技术进步中的主要挑战。 一个有前途的解决方案是使用基于支持表面等离子体激元（SPP）的金属表面的波导。 表面等离子体是金属表面上电磁耦合的电荷密度振荡。 亚波长金属结构通过“挤压”金属表面附近的电磁能量，可以将SPP限制在小于衍射极限的范围内。 因此，基于SPP的等离子体激元器件能够在宽带宽上承载光频率信号，而没有传统光波导所面临的尺寸约束。

Currently, a fundamental bottleneck in information technologies is the delay associated with electrical interconnects. Optical interconnects, on the other hand, are superior to electronic ones in terms of speed and bandwidth, but the diffraction limit of light restricts miniaturization and high-density integration. Interfacing optical interconnects and electronic devices represents a major challenge in the advancement of information technology. A promising solution is to use waveguides based on metallic surfaces that support surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). SPPs are electromagnetically coupled charge density oscillations on the surface of metals. Subwavelength metallic structures can confine SPPs over extents smaller than the diffraction limit by "squeezing" electromagnetic energy near the surface of the metal. Thus, plasmonic devices based on SPPs are capable of carrying optical frequency signals over a wide bandwidth without the size constraints faced by conventional light waveguides.