Ultracompact, narrowband three-dimensional plasmonic waveguide Bragg grating in metal/multi-insulator/metal configuration

Ultracompact three-dimensional (3D) waveguide plasmonic Bragg gratings in a metal/multi-insulator/ metal (MMIM) configuration with sinusoidal width modulations are presented. A semi-analytical approach from the eigenvalue problem and finite transmission-line network perspectives is described to facilitate the 3D designs with Bragg wavelength errors being within the range of 0.12%-3.99%. A narrowband design operating in the 1550 nm band with a FWHM bandwidth of 10.8 nm and an extinction ratio of approximately 12 dB is numerically demonstrated within a footprint of <17 μm² (10 periods). Unlike other types of plasmonic Bragg gratings, the bandwidth is increased as the MMIM grating length increases. The number of distinct plasmonic z-directed Poynting vector patterns within one period is found to be identical to the corresponding Bragg order. Narrowband characteristics are attributed to delicate, concurrent contra-flow interactions in and between photonic and plasmonic modes occurring simultaneously in multiple places within one period.