Control of Fano asymmetry in plasmon induced transparency and its application to plasmonic waveguide modulator

In this paper, we derive a governing equation for spectral asymmetry in electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). From the key parameters of asymmetry factor - namely dark mode quality factor Q(d), and frequency separation between bright and dark mode Delta omega(bd) = (omega(b) - omega d)-, a logical pathway for the maximization of EIT asymmetry is identified. By taking the plasmonic metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguide as a platform, a plasmon-induced transparency (PIT) structure of tunable frequency separation Delta omega(bd) and dark mode quality factor Q(d) is suggested and analyzed. Compared to previous works on MIM-based plasmon modulators, an order of increase in the performance Fig. (12dB contrast at similar to 60% throughput) was achieved from the highly asymmetric, narrowband PIT spectra. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America