A silicene-based plasmonic electro-optical switch in THz range

Abstract

Abstract The first design and simulation of a silicene-based optical switch in the frequency range of 20 to 50 THz are presented. Silicene is a monolayer of silicon atoms stacked together in the shape of a honeycomb that has outstanding features such as compatibility with current technology, strong spin-orbital coupling, and attractive optical properties. The proposed switch consists of a silicene waveguide encapsulated between layers of A l 2 O 3 which transmits the input signal by emitting surface plasmon polaritons. To control the ON and OFF switching modes using impurities and DC voltage, we change the chemical potential of silicene. The main advantages of the proposed switch over similar graphene types are fewer losses, broadband frequency range, more compatibility with current technology, and also due to the encapsulation of silicene between A l 2 O 3 , the waveguide is isolated from the environment. Also, Q-factor, insertion loss, and extinction ratio for the proposed switch are 189, 0.39 dB, and 51 dB, respectively.