PLASMO-NANO-DEVICES: Surface plasmon nanodevices - Towards sub-wavelength miniaturization of optical interconnects and photonic components

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 03.0493-1

Key words (English)

Surface plasmons; nanotechnology; optical interconnects; photonics

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: 507879

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 6. Frame Research Programme - 1.2 Communications technologies

Short description (English)

See abstract

Abstract (English)

Surface plasmons are electromagnetic waves that propagate along the surface of a conductor. The structure of a metal surface can be controlled by nanofabrication techniques in order to tailor the properties of surface plasmons and more specifically their interaction with visible and infra-red light, thereby offering the potential for new photonic devices. Surface plasmons physics is being explored for its potential in sub wavelength optics, data storage, solar cells, microscopy and bio sensing. Surface plasmons photonics, also called plasmonics, could evolve as a promising candidate to satisfy the constraints of miniaturization of optical devices down to subwavelength sizes. An appealing feature of plasmonic circuitry is that it enables to carry optical signals and electric currents through the same thin metal circuitry, thereby opening the perspectives of unprecedented technical combinations to insert electrically driven devices on the same circuitry on which light is propagating.
The research objectives of the network are to address the issues of miniaturized photonic circuitry by exploiting physical phenomena related to surface plasmons. During the last years, the European laboratories building the consortium of this network performed major contributions to the rapidly growing field of plasmonic research. It is now essential to federate the human and technical resources spread in Europe into a Network of Excellence aimed at developing prototypes of surface plasmon nanodevices for controlling optical processes at the subwavelength scale.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 03.0493-1