Nonreciprocal switching in nonlinear plasmonic couplers with loss and gain

WoS Article

en

We theoretically investigate the effect of gain on switching characteristics of Kerr-nonlinear directional couplers with loss. As a model we use a coupler made of two hybrid dielectric-plasmonic slot waveguides. Introducing an asymmetric gain profile into an otherwise symmetric structure may significantly decrease the switching power and enable tuning of nonlinear characteristics. We describe evolution of the field into steady states and show that asymmetric states, which can only occur for asymmetric gain profiles, cause strongly nonreciprocal behavior of the structure.

plasmonics, integrated optics, all-optical switching, waveguides with loss and gain, coupled-mode theory, Kerr-nonlinearity

2016-09-01

Springer

0306-8919

Optical and quantum electronics

48

9

446-1–446-11

11