Comprehensive investigation of noble metal nanoparticles shape, size and material on the optical response of optimal plasmonic Y-splitter waveguides

With the purpose of guiding and splitting of optical power at C-band spectrum, we studied Y-shape splitters based on various shapes of nanoparticles as a plasmon waveguide. We applied different configurations of Gold (Au) and Silver (Ag) nanoparticles including spheres, rods and rings, to optimize the efficiency and losses of two and four-branch splitters. The best performance in light transportation specifically at telecom wavelength (lambda approximate to 1550 nm) is achieved by nanorings, due to an extra degree of freedom in their geometrical components. In addition, comparisons of several values for offset distance (d(offset)) of examined structures shows that Au nanoring splitters with feasible lower d(offset) have high quality in guiding and splitting of light through the structure. Finally, we studied four-branch Y-splitters based on Au and Ag nanorings with least possible offset distances to optimize the splitter performance. The power transmission as a key element is calculated for examined structures. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.