Wide band dispersionless slow light in hetero-MIM plasmonic waveguide

A flat slow-light band over a wide frequency range is obtained in the hetero-MIM (metal-insulator-metal) waveguide with zero group velocity dispersion (GVD). The zero GVD originates from dispersion compensation by the photonic mode and the plasmonic mode, the mechanism of which does not exist in the homo-MIM structure. By changing dielectric permittivity of the insulator or the difference of two different metallic plasma frequencies, the group index and the bandwidth can be tuned. The dispersionless slow light characteristic in the hetero-MIM waveguide may be useful in the new design of plasmonic devices. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America