Coupling between long range surface plasmon polariton mode and dielectric waveguide mode

Abstract

Coupling of TM mode between long range surface plasmon polariton (LRSPP) mode and conventional dielectric waveguide mode is demonstrated numerically with finite element method. The characteristics of a hybrid coupler, which consists of the LRSPP waveguide and conventional single mode dielectric waveguide, are analyzed. The high efficient coupling shows a possible route for integrating the SPP device and conventional dielectric optical devices together and a method to excite LRSPP mode with dielectric waveguide. Because the coupling just occurs on TM mode, this kind of the hybrid coupler can be used as polarization mode splitter and combiner.