Power monitoring in dielectric-loaded surface plasmon-polariton waveguides

We report on propagating mode power monitoring in dielectric-loaded surface plasmon-polariton waveguides (DLSPPWs) by measuring the resistance of gold stripes supporting the DLSPPW mode propagation. Inevitable absorption of the DLSPPW mode in metal causes an increase in the stripe temperature and, thereby, in its resistance whose variations are monitored with an external Wheatstone bridge being accurately balanced in the absence of radiation in a waveguide. The investigated waveguide configuration consists of a 1-mu m-thick and 10-mu m-wide polymer ridges tapered laterally to a 1-mu m-wide ridge placed on a 50-nm-thin and 4-mu m-wide gold stripe, all supported by a magnesium fluoride substrate. Using single-mode polarization-maintaining fiber for in- and out-coupling of radiation, DLSPPW mode power monitoring at telecom wavelengths is realized with the responsivities of up to similar to 1.8 mu V/mu W (showing weak wavelength dependence) being evaluated for a bias voltage of 1 V. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America