The gain effect in a magnetic plasmon waveguide

Abstract

Loss is a crucial problem in plasmonic integrated optical circuits and metamaterials. The Er, Yb codoped gain material is introduced into a magnetic plasmon waveguide composed of a chain of nanosandwiches in order to solve the loss problem in such subwavelength waveguide. The magnetic plasmon mode and a higher order mode are chosen as the signal and pump light to enhance the radiation and pump efficiencies. The signal light propagating in the waveguide is investigated with different Er3+ doping concentration and signal decay time. It is shown that the gain effect cannot only compensate the loss but also is able to amplify the signal, when exceeding certain threshold values of doping concentration and signal decay time. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.