Plasmonic Nanoantenna Array Design

Abstract

Recently, wireless optical communication system is developing toward the chip level. Optical nanoantenna array in optical communication system is the key component for radiating and receiving light. In this chapter, we propose a sub-wavelength plasmonic nanoantenna with high gain operating at the standard optical communication wavelength of 1550 nm. The designed plasmonic antenna has a good matching with the silicon waveguide in a wide band, and light is fed from the bottom of the nanoantenna via the silicon waveguide. Furthermore, we design two kinds of antenna arrays with the proposed plasmonic nanoantenna, including one-and two-dimensional arrays (1 × 8 and 8 × 8). The radiation characteristics of the antenna arrays are investigated and both arrays have high gains and wide beam steering range without grating lobes.