PhD Oral Examination: "Modeling of Nanometallic Waveguides," 3pm, AP200

PhD Oral Examination
Department of Electrical Engineering
Stanford University

Speaker: S. Ekin Kocabas, kocabas@stanford.edu
Title: Modeling of Nanometallic Waveguides
Date: Thursday, June 18, 2009
Time: 3:15pm (refreshments at 3:00pm)
Location: Applied Physics, Rm 200 http://campus-map.stanford.edu/index.cfm?ID=04-230

Abstract:

Plasmonics is a new and vibrant branch of optics that tries to understand and design metallic structures to focus and guide light at the nanometer level, below the diffraction limit, with applications covering a wide range of fields from bio-sensing to optical interconnects. The optical interconnect applications will require a dense integration between the optical and the electrical components which necessitates a solid understanding of the way electromagnetic waves propagate and scatter as they flow through the system.

In this talk, I will focus on one of the most popular waveguiding geometries in plasmonics: the metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguide. The talk will illustrate the use of the ideas developed in the microwave domain to design waveguiding components at optical wavelengths. As an example, I will provide the details on the use of the Smith Chart to build a mode converter that transforms the mode of a large waveguide to that of a smaller waveguide with no energy loss [1]. Circuit models for waveguide junctions will be derived and their physical significance will be discussed as well. Lastly, the modes of the MIM waveguide will be at the focus of our theoretical lens [2]. I will compare and contrast the rich set of modes that exists in the MIM waveguide to those that exist in the dielectric slab and the parallel plate waveguides. The importance of using the full set of supported modes---which form a complete basis set---will be illustrated by mode-matching calculations.


[1] http://tinyurl.com/l4f54y
[2] http://tinyurl.com/l2u32o