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Physica B
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/physb

Integration of plasmonics into nanoelectronic circuits

Ping Bai , Hong Son Chu, Mingxia Gu, Oka Kurniawan, Erping Li
Computational Electronics and Photonics, Institute of High Performance Computing, 1 Fusionopolis Way #16-16 Connexis, Singapore 138632, Singapore

a r t i c l e in fo abstract

Plasmonic waveguides are proposed to transmit information optically from one electronic component
Keywords: to another in integrated nanoelectronic circuits. A metal–insulator–metal (MIM) plasmonic waveguide,
Plasmonics rather than a traditional dielectric waveguide or an electric wire, is used for data transmission. The MIM
Subwavelength waveguide plasmonic waveguide confines plasmonic (electromagnetic) waves to a dielectric slot with a cross-
Plasmonic converter section of 50 nm  50 nm, and propagates them close to the speed of light. Two nanorods that form a
Nanoantenna nanoantenna are employed to receive the optical power from the waveguide, and localize as well as
concentrate the received power in the proximity around the two nanorods. The localized optical power
is converted to electric signals by a nanoscale plasmonics-to-electronics converter, which has a
nanosized active volume and a bandwidth of up to 1 THz. Both the plasmonic waveguide and the
converter have nanoscale dimensions comparable to those of modern nanoelectronic counterparts. The
proposed method could be used to improve the performance of existing nanoelectronic systems by
exploiting the strength of optics.
& 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction free-space wavelength, with efficient power delivery. Plasmonics

Integration of optical and electronic circuits leads to remark-
able benefit in data transmission and processing by combining the
advantages of the large bandwidth of optics and the compactness
of electronics [1]. Continuous reduction in size of electronic
components has resulted in better, faster, and smaller electronic
everyday products for society. However, interconnects on a chip
have become a bottle-neck preventing further improvement of
the performance of electronic products due to the increasing
signal delay and power consumption associated with the inter-
connects [2]. Optical interconnects are superior to the electronic
interconnects by virtue of their large operational bandwidth, and
huge data transmission capability. However, the dimensions of a
traditional optical device are fundamentally limited by the law of
diffraction. The large mismatch in size prevents integrating optics
with electronics for a better performance.
Plasmonics allows manipulating the flow of light in a
nanometer scale well below the diffraction limit, by exploiting
the unique optical properties of metallic structures [3]. Much
attention has been attracted to the study of plasmonics, from the
fundamentals to applications in recent years [4–8], including
nanoscale optical waveguides [4], perfect lenses, subwavelength
lithography, highly sensitive biosensors and ultra-fast modulators
[5]. Plasmonics could provide a new way for optical data
transmission near light speed requiring a size well below the
 Corresponding author. Tel.: + 65 64191242; fax: + 65 64635176.
E-mail address: baiping@ihpc.a-star.edu.sg (P. Bai).
will be the potential technology to achieve information transmis-
sion between nanoscale electronic devices at optical frequencies,
and bridge the gap between photonics and electronics in the
nanoscale regime [9].
We explore the convergence of optics and electronics by using
plasmonic waveguides for on-chip nanoscale optical intercon-
nects. To optically transmit data between electronic devices, we
need to develop a number of plasmonic devices, including
plasmonic sources, modulators, waveguides, switches, filters and
detectors. As a first step, we focus on the waveguide and detector.
We use plasmonic subwavelength waveguides as optical inter-
connects. The plasmonic waves carry information, and propagate
along the waveguide close to the speed of light. At the end of the
waveguide, the plasmonic waves are converted into electronic
signals through a plasmonic converter. Fig. 1 shows a schematic
diagram of a metal–insulator–metal subwavelength waveguide
coupled to a plasmonic converter.
2. Subwavelength waveguides
The major challenge for the on-chip optical data transmission
is to confine the electromagnetic waves in a waveguide of
nanometer size compatible with that of the electric components.
Previous studies show that plasmonics could be confined in, and
propagated along, a waveguide with dimensions below one-tenth
of the free-space wavelength [4]. Different plasmonic waveguides
have been studied, including metal–insulator–metal (MIM),

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insulator-metal-insulator, and dielectric-loaded structures. The
MIM waveguide is most suitable for the on-chip data transmission
as it provides a better trade-off between the lateral confinement
and the propagation loss [10].
For the purpose of this paper we have considered a subwave-
length MIM waveguide. Fig. 2a shows the schematics of the MIM
waveguide, which consists of a dielectric slot between two thin
metallic films. The width and the thickness of each metal film are
1 mm and 50 nm, respectively. The gap between the two metal films
is 50 nm. Fig. 2b shows the electric field propagating along the Ag–
air–Ag waveguide at a free-space wavelength of 1.55 mm, simulated
with CST Microwave Studio [11]. Plasmonic waves are well confined
within the nanoscale slot. The distribution of the electric field in the
xz-plane across the center of the waveguide is shown in Fig. 2c. We
notice that the magnitude of the electric field decreases along the
waveguide. Fig. 3 shows the relationship between the propagation
distance and the wavelength. It shows that the propagation distance
increases when the free-space wavelength of the input field is
increased. This can be attributed to the fact that the metal becomes
less lossy at lower frequency. That is why the metal can be treated as
a perfect conductor in microwave regime. Therefore, shorter free-
space wavelength corresponds to a larger propagation loss.
The length of an on-chip interconnect can range from sub-
micrometers (local interconnects) to centimeters (global intercon-
nects) in an advanced electronic chip. However, the MIM plasmonic
waveguide is very lossy due to high absorption of light in the optical
frequency regime. The propagation distance in the MIM waveguide
can only reach a distance of deca-micrometers with the field being
reasonably confined. The performance of existing plasmonic
waveguides is not good enough for on-chip interconnect applica-
tions yet. There is urgent need to increase the propagation distance
of plasmonic waveguides while maintain a high confinement in
order to integrate them into semiconductor-based electronic
circuits. Fortunately, studies on novel materials, such as gain
materials, plasmonic metamaterials and epsilon-near-zero materi-
als, and on novel structures have shown a very promising future for
the implementation of subwavelength waveguides with ultra-low
propagation loss [8].

Plasmonic
Plasmonic
Waveguide
Converter
Y SiO2
Z
Substrate
X

Fig. 1. Schematic illustration shows plasmonic waves propagating along a metal–

insulator–metal subwavelength waveguide and detected by a plasmonics-to- Fig. 3. Propagation distance of the Ag–air–Ag waveguide (slot cross-section of
electronics converter. 50 nm by 50 nm) as a function of free-space wavelength.

Fig. 2. Plasmonic waves propagating along an MIM waveguide: (a) 2-D illustration of the MIM waveguide, (b) 3-D electric fields propagating along the Ag–air–Ag
waveguide with a cross-section of 50 nm  50 nm and at a free-space wavelength of 1.55 mm and (c) the distribution of the electric fields in the xz-plane across the center of
the waveguide.

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3. Plasmonics–electronics conversion
In order to integrate a plasmonic subwavelength waveguide
into an electronic circuit, a novel plasmonic converter with a high
bandwidth is required to convert plasmonic signals to electronic
ones. Various photodetectors have been developed to detect
electromagnetic waves propagating along a conventional di-
electric waveguide at the micrometer scale [12]. The plasmonic
converter, however, cannot be obtained by simply scaling down
the traditional micrometer-scaled waveguide photodetector.
Firstly, plasmonics, unlike traditional optics which is based on
diffraction phenomena in dielectrics, confines electromagnetic
fields along the interface between metal and dielectric. The
plasmonic waves are generally very weak at the end of the
waveguide as the plasmonic waveguide is very lossy compared
with the dielectric one. Secondly, the plasmonic waves decay into
surrounding dielectrics very rapidly at the open end of the
plasmonic waveguide. Only a small fraction of the plasmonic
energy can reach the active region of a plasmonic converter if the
converter is simply attached to the end of the waveguide. Fig. 4a
shows the electric field in the xy-plane, at 50 nm away from the
end of an MIM waveguide. The field is too weak to be detected.
Thirdly, there will also be a large reflection at the interface
between the waveguide and the converter due to a large contrast
of permittivities of the waveguide and the converter. Lastly, the
nanoscale photodetector does not have enough space to form a
resonant cavity, which needs a size of (n + 1) * l/2 where n is an
integer. Directly scaling down of the traditional waveguide
photodetector cannot provide enough photoresponsivity to
detect the weak plasmonic waves. Therefore, the coupling
between the plasmonic waveguide and the converter becomes a
major challenge for the design of a plasmonics-to-electronics
converter.
In our study, metallic nanorods are used to couple plasmonic
waves from the subwavelength waveguide to the plasmonic
converter, and enhance the electromagnetic near-fields around
the nanorods at the same time. The optical properties of the
nanoscale metallic particles enable localized surface plasmon
modes around the particles. The metallic nanorods can also be
considered to form a dipole nanoantenna at optical frequencies
analogue to that at radio or microwave frequencies [13]. We place
two metallic nanorods near the end of the plasmonic waveguide
as shown in Fig. 1. The two nanorods, which act as a dipole
nanoantenna, receive the plasmonic waves from the waveguide.
As a result, the electromagnetic fields are coupled from the
Fig. 4. Electric fields in the xy-plane 50 nm from the end of the waveguide: (a)
without nanoantenna and (b) with the nanoantenna.
Please cite this article as: P. Bai, et al., Physica B (2010), doi:10.1016/j.physb.2010.01.017
3
plasmonic waveguide to the nanorods, and the near-fields are
formed and concentrated in the area around the nanorods [14].
The dimensions of the metallic nanorods have a significant
effect on the enhancement of the near-field around the nanorods.
In our study, the plasmonic waves in the MIM waveguide are
excited with light at a free-space wavelength of 1.55 mm. Two Ag
nanorods are used to collect the plasmonic waves. Each nanorod
has a dimension of 150  50  50 nm3; and the gap between two
nanorods is optimized to be 50 nm to give the highest electric
fields in the gap region. The total length between two extreme
ends of the nanorods is the most sensitive parameter affecting the
enhancement of the near-field around the nanorods. This is
analogue to the effective length of a half-wavelength dipole
antenna in microwave applications. However, the optimal length
of this nanorod antenna is found to be 350 nm, which is much
shorter than one-half of 1.55 mm. The half-wave dipole resonance
here might correspond to a shorter effective wavelength, which is
much shorter than that in free space owing to the plasmonic
effects of the metallic nanorods [15].
Fig. 4 shows the calculated electric field in the xy-plane across
the center of the nanorods without and with the nanoantenna.
Results show that, the near-field around the nanorods is greatly
condensed by applying the nanoantenna. The electric fields in the
gap region can be enhanced by more than 100 times with the
optimized geometry of the nanoantenna.
Once the optical power is concentrated in a nano-scaled
volume, the plasmonic converter can be designed by using the
structures of traditional photodetectors with its active region
enclosing the volume. A PIN photodetector structure is used in our
study as shown in Fig. 1. An absorption material InGaAs is filled in
the volume around the two nanorods where the near-fields are
locally enhanced. The P-I-N layered structure is formed in the y-
direction with two electrodes located at the bottom and the top of
the PIN layers, respectively. The photonic energy from the
plasmonic waves, which can be treated as photons incident in
the semiconductor material InGaAs, is absorbed by the electrons
in the valence band. These high-energy electrons are excited to
become free electrons in the conduction band, and leave holes in
the valence band. As a result, electron–hole pairs are generated in
the absorption material, and the electrons and holes drift to the
two electrodes separately to form photocurrents under an
external bias voltage.
The electronic characteristics of the plasmonic converter are
simulated based on the Silvaco TCAD software [16]. A two-
dimensional model is built in the xy-plane across the center of the
nanorods. The photogeneration rate in the absorption material is
modeled with
la
G ¼ ZjEj2 ð1Þ
2p‘ c
where
a ¼ 4pk=l
Z is the internal quantum efficiency; ‘ is Planck’s constant; l is
the free space wavelength; c is the speed of light; a is the
absorption coefficient; k is the imaginary part of the refraction
index of the absorption material; and E is the integrated value of
the electric field in the z-direction. Fig. 5 shows the calculated
photogeneration in the active area of the converter. It can be seen
that the density distribution of the excited carriers is proportional
to the distribution of the electromagnetic field as shown in Fig. 4b.
The calculated photocurrent of the converter as a function of the
bias voltage is shown in Fig. 6.
This proposed plasmonic converter would have very high
responsivity and large bandwidth. The weak plasmonic waves at
the end of the plasmonic waveguide have been coupled and
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-0.4 200 nm. The transit time for the excited carriers to travel to the
p+ two electrodes can be o1 ps. This not only greatly reduces the
-0.3 chances for the recombination of electron–hole pairs, leading to
-0.2 high responsivity, but also allows the converter to operate at a
very high speed. The rough estimation suggests that the converter
-0.1 is able to operate in THz frequency range.
Y (Microns)

0
0.1 4. Conclusion
Photogeneration
0.2 1.87e+21
1.5e+21 We have proposed a method to enhance the performance of
0.3 1.12e+21 electronic circuits by using subwavelength plasmonic waveguides
0.4
7.48e+20 as on-chip optical interconnects. We have transmitted data by
3.74e+20 n-
using MIM waveguides that can propagate plasmonic waves in a
0
0.5 cross-section much smaller than the free-space wavelength. A
plasmonics-to-electronics converter has been designed to convert
-0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2
the plasmonic waves into electric signals. Two nanorods, which
X (Microns) form a dipole nanoantenna, are used to couple the plasmonic
Fig. 5. Photogeneration in the cross section via the nanorods in the plasmonic
waves from the waveguide to the converter. The electromagnetic
converter. The value has been integrated in the z-direction. near-field around the nanorods, which are inside the active area of
the converter, is greatly enhanced through the localized surface
plasmon effects. The converter has ultra-compact dimensions,
Cathode Current (A) high responsivity, potential THz bandwidth, and very low power
1e-09 dispersion. The nanoscale features of the plasmonic waveguide
and the converter, comparable to those of the nanoelectronic
counterparts, are paving the way for the integration of optical and
8e-10
electronic components on the same chip; and hence a tremendous
synergy could be reached by combining the advantages of both
6e-10 photonics and nanoelectronics.

4e-10
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Please cite this article as: P. Bai, et al., Physica B (2010), doi:10.1016/j.physb.2010.01.017