Abstract
This PhD thesis presents investigation of plasmonic waveguides and waveguiding components by means of scanning near-field optical microscopy characterizations, far-field optical observations, and numerical simulations. The plasmonic waveguiding attracts huge interest due to several reasons: 1) it is believed to bridge naturally optical and electronic circuits; 2) it looks natural and most efficient for active applications due to the presence of the metal inside the core of the plasmonic mode; 3) the mode size and correspondent field confinement of plasmonic waveguides can be tuned in a vast range simply by changing geometric parameters of the waveguide, keeping in mind the trade-off between confinement and propagation losses. A broad variety of plasmonic waveguides and waveguide components, including antennas for coupling the light in/out of the waveguide, requires correspondent characterization capabilities, especially on experimental side. The most straight-forward and powerful technique for such purpose is scanning near-field optical microscopy, which allows to probe and map near-field distribution and therefore becomes the main tool in this project. The detailed description of the used setups and their imaging techniques is included additionally to the main research of plasmonic waveguides (channel plasmon polariton, long-range dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton, and plasmonic slot waveguides) and waveguide components (antennas, S-bends, and directional couplers) included as a reprint of papers.
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
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Vejledere/rådgivere |
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Status | Udgivet - 23. sep. 2014 |