Surface-normal plasmonic modulator using sub-wavelength metal grating on electro-optic polymer thin film

In this work, we present the design, fabrication, and characterization of a surface-normal plasmonic modulator using sub-wavelength metal grating. The device consists of a 1.77 μm efficiently poled electro-optic polymer film, which is sandwiched between a plasmonic grating and an indium-tin oxide film. A strong Fano resonance with a sharp plasmonic bandgap at 1522 nm wavelength was observed and electro-optical modulation was demonstrated based on the refractive index modulation of the polymer film. With future improvement in lowering the driving voltage and increasing the modulation depth, this hybrid organic/plasmonic modulator can readily expand into modulator arrays for three dimensional optical interconnects.