Kerr nonlinear characteristics of plasmonic waveguide devices

Abstract

Plasmonic waveguides are promising in nonlinear optical applications because of their subwavelength field confinement, which can strongly enhance light-matter interactions and greatly reduce the device footprint. We investigate the Kerr nonlinear characteristics of two typical plasmonic waveguides and compare their relative merits to a conventional all-dielectric silicon slot waveguide. This work provides useful guidance on designing ultra-compact nonlinear optical devices.