Experimental demonstration of titanium nitride plasmonic interconnects

Nathaniel Kinsey, Purdue University, Birck Nanotechnology Center
Marcello Ferrera, Purdue University, Birck Nanotechnology Center, Heriot Watt University
Gururaj V. Naik, Purdue University, Birck Nanotechnology Center, Standford University
V. E. Babicheva, Technical University of Denmark
Vladimir M. Shalaev, Purdue University, Birck Nanotechnology Center
Alexandra Boltasseva, Purdue University, Birck Nanotechnology Center

Abstract

An insulator-metal-insulator plasmonic interconnect using TiN, a CMOS-compatible material, is proposed and investigated experimentally at the telecommunication wavelength of 1.55 mu m. The TiN waveguide was shown to obtain propagation losses less than 0.8 dB/mm with a mode size of 9.8 mu m on sapphire, which agree well with theoretical predictions. A theoretical analysis of a solid-state structure using Si3N4 superstrates and ultra-thin metal strips shows that propagation losses less than 0.3 dB/mm with a mode size of 9 mu m are attainable. This work illustrates the potential of TiN as a realistic plasmonic material for practical solid-state, integrated nano-optic and hybrid photonic devices. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America

Discipline(s)

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology