Phys.org August 7, 2018
An international team of researchers (South Korea, Germany) investigated magneto-plasmons in metal films surrounded by a ferromagnetic dielectric. They found that the magnitude of magnetization is exponentially reduced with the increase of the metal film thickness. Based on this phenomenon, they propose a waveguide-integrated magnetically controlled switchable plasmonic routers with 99-%-high contrast within the optical bandwidth of tens of THz. This configuration can also operate as a magneto-plasmonic modulator. Plasmonic waveguides open the possibility to develop dramatically miniaturized optical devices and provide a promising route towards the next generation of integrated nanophotonic circuits for information processing, optical computing and others… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
The configuration of a switchable plasmonic router consisting of a T-shaped metallic waveguide surrounded by a ferromagnetic dielectric material and under the action of an external magnetic field. Credit: MBI