LONG RANGE SURFACE PLASMON POLARITON MODULATOR

摘要

The present invention relates to waveguides for guiding and modulating long range surface plasmon polaritons (LR-SPPs). The guiding devices comprise a core stripe of e.g. metal of finite width embedded in a cladding such as a dielectric cladding. Particularly, in the waveguides of the invention, the complex propagation constant of the guided LR-SPP mode(s) can be dynamically adjusted by heating of the metal core leading to dissipation of heat into the surrounding dielectric material. The devices may be used in the construction of dynamic light guiding integrated components for optical telecommunication.