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Three-dimensional subwavelength components utilizing THz surface plasmons

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Abstract

Since surface plasmons (SPs) are not constrained by the diffraction limit, they have important potential applications in the optical, terahertz (THz), and microwave components. In this paper, we firstly present a review of three-dimensional (3D) bidirectional and multi-directional THz SP splitters based on the rectangular metallic groove gratings with finite thickness, in which a metallic wire was used to excite the THz SPs. The experimental verifications of such splitters have been implemented in the microwave frequencies, and the measurement results have excellent agreements to the full-wave simulations. To improve the performance, a 3D bidirectional THz SP splitter with the transverse confinement and a 3D bidirectional bending THz SP splitter are then proposed, which have shown very good splitting performance, compact sizes, and better transverse confinement of EM fields. Finally, a broadband slow-wave system of subwavelength thickness is reviewed and a new bending slow-wave system utilizing THz SPs is proposed. Experiments and simulations in microwave frequencies have good agreements, showing the validity of these components.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves, School of Information Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China

    YongJin Zhou, Quan Jiang & TieJun Cui

Authors
  1. YongJin Zhou
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  2. Quan Jiang
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  3. TieJun Cui
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to TieJun Cui.

Additional information

ZHOU YongJin was born in 1982, received the B.S. degree in communication engineering from Shandong University, Ji’nan, in 2006, and received the Ph.D. degree in electromagnetic field and microwave technology from Southeast University, Nanjing, in 2011. His research interests include computational electromagnetics, metamaterials, and their applications. He is working in Marvell Technology (Shanghai) Ltd.

CUI TieJun received the B.S., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Xidian University, Xi’an, China, in 1987, 1990, and 1993, respectively. In 1993, he joined the Department of Electromagnetic Engineering, Xidian University. From 1995 to 1997 he was a Research Fellow with the Institut fur Hochstfrequenztechnik und Elektronik (IHE) at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. In 1997, he joined the Center for Computational Electromagnetics, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 2001, he became a Cheung-Kong Professor with the Department of Radio Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing. Currently, he is the Associate Dean with the School of Information Science and Engineering, and the Associate Director of the State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves. His research interests include computational electromagnetics, metamaterials, and their applications.

JIANG Quan was born in 1985, received the B.S. degree in information engineering from Southeast University, Nanjing, in 2009, and is studying for the M.Sc. degree in electromagnetic field and microwave technology from Southeast University.

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Zhou, Y., Jiang, Q. & Cui, T. Three-dimensional subwavelength components utilizing THz surface plasmons. Sci. China Inf. Sci. 55, 79–89 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11432-011-4509-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11432-011-4509-z

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