Integration of plasmonics into nanoelectronic circuits

Plasmonic waveguides are proposed to transmit information optically from one electronic component to another in integrated nanoelectronic circuits. A metal–insulator–metal (MIM) plasmonic waveguide, rather than a traditional dielectric waveguide or an electric wire, is used for data transmission. The MIM plasmonic waveguide confines plasmonic (electromagnetic) waves to a dielectric slot with a cross-section of 50 nm×50 nm, and propagates them close to the speed of light. Two nanorods that form a 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.