Modeling of 2D graphene material for plasmonic hybrid waveguide with enhanced near-infrared modulation

Modulating near-infrared signals is critical for high density optical interconnects. In order to achieve enhanced modulation effects, we design a near-infrared modulator in combination with a gold nanostripe waveguide and graphene. Conventional assumption of isotropic permittivities for graphene leads to exaggeration of light absorption at the so-called “epsilon-near-zero” point and extreme overestimation of modulation efficiency, and the anisotropic permittivities assumption faces problems for thickness definition and lower computational efficiency. Therefore, we treat graphene as a 2D conductive surface in the simulation to solve these problems, and investigate the plasmonic effects on modulation enhancement and the trade-off on the modulation efficiency versus the insertion loss. Our method is promising for the design of advanced optical devices based on 2D materials.