Nanoscale nonlinear plasmonics in photonic waveguides and circuits

Abstract Optical waveguides are the key building block of optical fiber and photonic integrated circuit technology, which can benefit from active manipulation to complement their passive guiding mechanisms. A number emerging applications will require faster nanoscale waveguide circuits that produce stronger light-matter interactions consume less power. Functionalities rely on nonlinear optics particularly attractive in terms femtosecond response times terahertz bandwidth, but typically demand high powers or large footprints when using dielectrics alone. Plasmonic nanostructures have long promised harness metals for truly nanoscale, energy-efficient optics. Early excitement has settled into cautious optimism, recent years been marked by remarkable progress enhancing a functions with plasmonic across several application areas. This work presents an introductory review plasmonics context guided-wave structures, followed comprehensive overview related experiments covering light generation, all-optical signal processing, generation/detection, electro optics, quantum molecular sensing.