Perspective

Cite This: ACS Photonics 2019, 6, 4−17 pubs.acs.org/journal/apchd5

Structural Slow Waves: Parallels between Photonic Crystals and

Plasmonic Waveguides
Philippe Lalanne,*,† Steṕ hane Coudert,‡ Guillaume Duchateau,‡ Stefan Dilhaire,§ and Kevin Vynck†
†
LP2N, Institut d’Optique Graduate School, CNRS, Université Bordeaux, 33400 Talence, France
‡
Université de Bordeaux-CNRS-CEA, Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, UMR 5107, 351 Cours de la Libération, 33405
Talence, France
§
Laboratoire Onde et Matière d’Aquitaine (LOMA), UMR 5798, CNRS-Université de Bordeaux, 33400 Talence, France
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ABSTRACT: The slowdown of propagating electromagnetic waves by engineer-

ing waveguide structures is receiving considerable attention in nanophotonics.
Two types of structures are independently investigated, namely, diffraction-
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limited photonic-crystal waveguides and highly confined plasmonic waveguides.

Here we propose a unified viewpoint on slow waveguide structures by analyzing
both approaches within a single theoretical framework. This allows us to clarify
the physical mechanisms underlying slownessthereby highlighting their
inherent differencesand to remove some inaccurate ideas on the topic. We
further discuss the strengths and weaknesses of plasmonic and photonic slow
waveguides, assess the technical and scientific challenges recently solved, and critically identify those that still stand in the way.
KEYWORDS: slow waveguide, slow surface plasmon, slow photonic-crystal waveguide, LDOS enhancement,
roughness-induced backscattering

■ INTRODUCTION
In general, the velocity at which a pulse of light propagates
through a medium (group velocity) is given by vg = cng−1 = c(n +
ω dn/dω)−1, where c is the velocity of light in a vacuum, ω is the
light angular frequency, n is the refractive index of the medium,
and ng denotes the group index. Theoretically, there is no
fundamental limit on the value to which light may be slowed
down. Very low propagation velocities (17 m/s)1 and even
stopped light2 have been reported in ultracold atomic gases.
These ultraslow regimes are reached when the velocity of light
pulses can be described fully in terms of an extremely frequency-
dependent refractive index of the material, offering a sharp dip in
the absorption or gain spectrum in a narrow spectral region.
Simple saturation effects can lead to such behavior, as well as
more advanced effects such as electromagnetically induced
transparency.3,4 Slowness induced by material dispersion (dn/
dω) will not be discussed further in this Perspective article.
It is believed that if slow light is delivered at a micro- or
nanoscale on-chip, for instance in a fully integrated config-
uration compatible with standard technological platforms,
science and technology will be strongly impacted. This route
is mainly followed by relying on structural dispersion. It refers to
situations in which the velocity of light pulses is modified by
structuring and/or assembling matter at the micro- or nanoscale.
The group velocity is no longer related to the refractive index n
of a medium, but to an effective index neff that depends on ω. In
marked contrast with material slowness, structural slowness is
accompanied by a strong electromagnetic field enhancement.
There are essentially two schemes for structural slowness: (i)
photonic-crystal waveguides, e.g., single-row-missing photonic-
crystal waveguides or coupled optical resonators,5 and (ii)
plasmonic waveguides, e.g., metal/insulator/metal (MIM) or
insulator/metal/insulator (IMI) heterostructures, metal nano-
wires, or hyperbolic materials.6 We will indifferently use the
terms “slow photon” or “slow photonic waveguide” for dielectric
structures and consistently “slow plasmon” or “slow plasmonic
waveguide” for metallic ones and “slow wave” or “slow
waveguide” in general terms. Photonic-crystal and plasmonic
slow waves share many common features, starting from the field-
enhancement property, and are studied, quite naturally, for the
same applications in science and technology, e.g., light
harvesting,7 biosensing,8 nonclassical light sources,9,10 las-
ing,5,11−14 quantum information,15,16 nonlinearities and switch-
ing,17−20 and integrated photonic circuits.21,22 Photonic crystals
are definitely more advantageous for applications such as delay
lines, buffering, or bit memory,23 whereas plasmonic structures
are considered to be more promising for nanoscale applica-
tions.10,24−29
In photonics, the energy is purely electromagnetic. Slowness
originates from waves that bounce back and forth as they
propagate through a periodic structure (see Figure 1a for an
illustration). It immediately appears that a phase-matching
condition should be satisfied and that the characteristic
dimension of the structure, i.e., the period a, should be
comparable to the wavelength λ, i.e., a ≈ λ/(2n). Quite
differently, slowness in plasmonics does not necessarily require
periodic back-reflections and can be implemented at deep-
Received: September 25, 2018
Revised: November 22, 2018
Accepted: November 25, 2018
Published: November 26, 2018

© 2018 American Chemical Society 4 DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.8b01337

ACS Photonics 2019, 6, 4−17
ACS Photonics
Figure 1. Structural slow electromagnetic waves. (a) Slowness at the microscale with photonic periodic waveguides. It is achieved for lattice periods
that are comparable to the wavelength, and the transversal confinement is limited by the diffraction. The slow-mode intensity pattern is periodic along
the direction of propagation. (b) Slowness at the nanoscale with plasmonic translation-invariant waveguides. Slow plasmons are achieved with
heterostructures having at least one transverse dimension much smaller than the wavelength. The slow-mode intensity pattern is uniform along the
direction of propagation. (Courtesy of S. I. Bozhevolnyi.)
subwavelength scales with translational-invariant wave-
guides.30−34 Slow surface plasmons result from a coupling of
electromagnetic fields with the free electrons of metals. As a
result, slow plasmons appear when the characteristic dimensions
are much smaller than the wavelength, for instance with a MIM
dielectric gap (see Figure 1b for an illustration). Consequently,
contrary to photonic slow light that occurs in a quite narrow
frequency range with effective mode areas on the order of λ2,
slow plasmons are inherently broadband with deep-subwave-
length mode areas.
The literature on structural slow waves appears to be
disjointed between slow plasmons and slow photons. Review
articles, wherein applications of slow waves are analyzed and
discussed,5,6,15,16,18,19,22,35,36 are available for each individual
scheme, but to our knowledge, there is no comprehensive
overview of structural slow waves in general. Our primary
motivation is to address this shortcoming. By treating absorption
loss for plasmons as a perturbation, the same theoretical
approach, notably the Lorentz reciprocity theorem in its
conjugate form, applies indifferently to each scheme. The
emergence of a “unified” vision of both schemes is additionally
favored by the systematic reference to a single and common
physical parameter to quantify the slowness, the group index ng.
Section 2 is concerned with the study of the emblematic
example of gap modes of MIM waveguides with classical
electrodynamic models. The derivation is found in many
textbooks on electrodynamics. Our prime interest is to look
more specifically to what is happening for small gaps when the
group velocity vanishes and to introduce, with a concrete
example, many ingredients that will be discussed afterward more
abstractly. Although the results are well known, it is
recommended that potential readers do not jump over this
section.
Section 3 is devoted to the basics of the electrodynamics of
slow modes. We review the two physical mechanisms underlying
slowness and analyze their inherent differences. First, we clarify
how ultraslow transport is achieved by associating two counter-
propagative power flows. It is generally admitted that the two
power flows exactly balance at vanishing speeds. For instance,
for slow plasmons, owing to the negative contribution, the
power flow in the metal is expected to balance that in the
positive-permittivity dielectric cladding layers.6 We revisit this
widely admitted picture for photons and plasmons, showing that
the power flows are not perfectly balanced and that the slight
difference is important, as for instance it allows perfect adiabatic
tapering. Then, we derive the scaling laws with ng of the electric
and magnetic fields of slow modes, showing that they are
considerably different for plasmons and photons. Their
5 DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.8b01337
Perspective
knowledge is very important since many physical effects in the
linear and nonlinear regimes depend on how the electric field
increases with ng.
Section 4 highlights the advantages and drawbacks of
plasmonic and photonic slowness. It provides a comprehensive
picture of their inherent forces and limitations, including the
bandwidth, the attenuation due to field enhancement, and
fabrication imperfections (roughness, absorption, etc.), which
are known to considerably reduce the propagation distance of
slow modes in realistic structures.31,37 We also try to understand
why slow plasmons seem to promise much for reaching
ultraslow regimes and even possibly for stopping light,6 whereas
imperfections are known to ruin any hope of observing ultraslow
transport with photonic waveguides.37,38
Section 5 addresses the issue of engineering the local density
of states (LDOS) with slow waveguides on the illustrative and
important example of light emission. Slowness is indeed
attached to field enhancement and may thus be used to boost
light emission. After a rapid analysis of light emission in slow
photonic waveguides, which is nowadays well understood, we
focus on emission in slow plasmonic waveguides. The analysis
starts with the textbook case of a single metal/insulator (MI)
interface, for which we highlight the role of slow plasmons for
quenching the emission. The case of MIMs is considered
afterward. We evidence that the large LDOS of the slow gap
plasmon mode for tiny insulator gaps counterbalances
quenching and further discuss how this effect may be exploited
for optimizing the efficiency of photon/plasmon sources.
Section 6 finally points out some perspectives for the use of
slow waveguides in devices and summarizes the work.
In the following, it might appear that the ohmic loss is
somewhat neglected. For instance, absorption is disregarded in
Sections 2 and 3 and is treated as a perturbation in Section 4.
There is a good reason for not rooting complex permittivities
directly from the beginning into Maxwell’s equations. This
simplifies the mathematical treatment of the next sections and
allows us to use exactly the same Hermitian theoretical
formalism to analyze photons and plasmons, making the
intercomparison more quantitative. We would like to emphasize
that (i) the role of ohmic losses will be discussed whenever it
impacts the reasoning, (ii) the perturbation treatment of Section
4 is exact for translation-invariant waveguides, and exact
numerical values will be provided for the main formula. The
importance of ohmic losses, which are critical and sometimes
underestimated in the literature, is therefore not overlooked
hereafter.
ACS Photonics 2019, 6, 4−17
ACS Photonics Perspective

Figure 2. Symmetric gap plasmon mode of MIM waveguides translationally invariant along the y axis. (a) z is the direction of propagation, and x
denotes the transverse direction. εm < 0 and εd > 0 are the dielectric permittivities of the metal and insulator. As the gap width g becomes much smaller
than the wavelength, the mode has no cutoff and the propagation constant β diverges as g−1. (b) Group index for εd = 2.25, εm = −28.0 + 1.5i, and
∂εm
∂λ
= − 84.23 + 2.63i (silver at λ = 800 nm39) in the limit of small gaps (i.e., large β’s). Black circles are numerical data obtained by computing the
ω dβ
complex-valued effective index β/c with the aperiodic rigorous coupled-wave analysis,40 and then the group index ng = β /c + ( ).
■
c dω

SLOW GAP PLASMONS IN
METAL/INSULATOR/METAL WAVEGUIDES
In this section, we study the properties of slow gap modes guided
in MIM heterostructures with tiny gaps employing a classical
electrodynamic model. Our prime intention is to introduce, on a
concrete example, the concepts and electromagnetic formalisms,
e.g., complex group indices, antiparallel power flows, and the
Lorentz reciprocity theorem, which will be used further at a
more abstract level in the following sections. A second
motivation is to have a complete analysis of an important
element that plays a key role in nanophotonics, e.g., for energy
transport though metal slits or grooves in metallic thin films,
artificial magnetism at optical frequency, and anomalous
dispersion in hyperbolic media.
MIM heterostructures support both transverse-electric (TE)
and transverse-magnetic (TM) gap modes.30,32 TE modes may
propagate over distances that may even exceed decay lengths
observed for TM modes. Here, we are concerned by the
fundamental gap-plasmon TM mode (see Figure 2), which does
not exhibit cutoff and offers slow propagation as the gap width
becomes much smaller than the wavelength.
For ultrasmall gap widths, gap plasmons are sensitive to the
electron density profile at the metal surfaces and classical
electrodynamic models cease to be valid. With a fully quantum
mechanical approach,41 the effects of electron spill-out on gap
plasmons have been analyzed, and it has been shown that the
mode index of ultranarrow gap plasmons converges to the bulk
refractive index in the limit of vanishing gap, thereby rectifying
the unphysical divergence found with classical models. These
effects that take place at the MI interfaces, 1−2 Å from the walls,
and introduce additional ohmic losses, are however negligible
for the gap widths (g > 1 nm) considered in the following, as we
checked with simplified nonlocal models.42
Solving the time-harmonic source-free Maxwell’s equations
for the MIM geometry is classical, as it looks very similar to the
textbook case of dielectric slab waveguides for TM polarization.
A small additional complexity, related to the definition of the
square root function in the complex plane, should be addressed
if the metal loss is not neglected, Im εm ≠ 0. We will simply
consider the case of εm negative and real and introduce
absorption with perturbation theory, thereby making all the
following quantities, e.g., the propagation constant β and the
group index ng, also real.
The magnetic field of the symmetric gap mode for TM
polarization, propagating along the positive z direction in a MIM
waveguide with gap width g, can be written as

l
o i i i g yy i i g yyy
o
o
o
o Hy(x) = h0jjjjexpjjjγdjjjx − zzzzzz + expjjj−γdjjjx + zzzzzzzzzzexp(iβz), |x| ≤
o
o k k k {{ k k {{{
g
o
m
o
o
2 2 2
o
o i i g yy
o
o
o Hy(x) = h0(1 + exp(−γdg ))expjjj−γmjjj|x|− zzzzzzexp(iβz), |x| >
o k k 2 {{
g
n 2 (1)

1/2
ω2 ω
(
with γα = β 2 − εα c 2 ) , with α ≡ m, d. Note that γm and γd the limit of small gaps, c g ≪ 1. By assuming that γdg ≪ 1 and γd
are both positive. The magnetic field amplitude h0 is a constant ≈ γm ≈ β, we get
that will be normalized afterward. By using the tangential-field 2ε
g βg = − d
continuity equation for Ez at x = ± 2 , we obtain the tran- εm (3)
scendental dispersion equation
Equation 3 is important, as it directly shows that, as the gap-
γ γ plasmon spatial extension is shrunk by the gap size, the gap-
− m (1 + exp(−γdg )) = d (1 − exp(−γdg )) plasmon wavelength 2π/β can be as small as a few nanometers,
εm εd (2)
which is much smaller than that in any known dielectric
Effective Index. Equation 2 can be solved accurately by medium. This is the physical origin of the subwavelength
numerically computing β(ω). It is easily solved analytically in localization beyond the diffraction limit (that is, the diffraction
6 DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.8b01337
ACS Photonics 2019, 6, 4−17
ACS Photonics
limit in a dielectric medium). Equation 3 also implies that both
transverse wave vectors, γd and γm, scale as g−1.
Field Profile and Mode Normalization. Always in the
limit of small gaps, the gap-plasmon field distribution takes the
following asymptotic form:
Hy(x) = 2h0 exp(iβz)
Ex (x) = 2βh0 /(ωε0εd) exp(iβz)
Ez(x)=iβh0 /(ωε0εd)[exp(γd(x − g /2)) − exp(− γd(x + g /2))]
× exp(iβz)
(4a)
g for the sake of simplicity.
for |x| ≤ 2 , and
Hy(x) = 2h0 exp(−γm(|x| − g /2)) exp(iβz)
Ex(x) = 2βh0 /(ωε0εm) exp(−γm(|x| − g /2)) exp(iβz)
x with a field distribution that is exponentially decaying away in
Ez(x) = 2iγ h0 /(ωε0εm) exp( −γm(|x| − g /2)) exp(iβz)
|x | m
(4b)
g
for |x| > We straightforwardly infer that the Poynting-vector
2
. waveguide and for Im(ε) = 0, the Lorentz reciprocity theorem
z-components in the gap and in the metals have opposite
directions and that the associated power flows are −4h02/
(ωε0εm) and 2h02/(ωε0εm), respectively, so that the net power
flow is −2h02/(ωε0εm). Normalizing this net positive flow to 1,
we find that h0 is independent of g and must be chosen so that
h0 = ( −ωε0εm /2)1/2 (5)
Absorption. Because we neglect absorption, Im εm = 0 and
eq 3 predicts a real propagation constant. The effect of
absorption can be taken into account by applying the Poynting
theorem and perturbation theory to a lossy waveguide (Δε =
Im(εm) ≠ 0) with the mode profile of eq 4b. The integration of
the exponentially decaying field in the metal leads to a complex
propagation constant, whose imaginary part is given by
εd Im(εm)
Im β = 2 g −1
|εm|2
(6)
showing that the imaginary part of β also scales as g−1. It is
interesting to note that this result can be obtained directly from
eq 3 by taking a complex-valued εm. In fact, one can show that eq
3 rigorously holds in the presence of absorption.30
Group Index. Using the expression of the group velocity ng =
c∂β/∂ω, eq 3 eventually leads to the following formula for the
group index:
λ 2 εd ∂εm
ng = −
g πεm 2 ∂λ (7)
Like for β, eq 7 is valid in the presence of absorption. We just
need to plug in the complex-valued permittivity of the metal to
obtain a complex group velocity c/ng, whose real and imaginary
parts represent the velocity and the damping of the light pulse, at
least when the pulse attenuation is weak. The predictive force of
eq 7, in its complex-valued version, is tested in Figure 2b for a
silver MIM waveguide at a wavelength of 800 nm.
■
ELECTROMAGNETISM OF SLOW GUIDED MODES
This section is devoted to the derivation of some fundamentals
of the electrodynamics of slow modes. For this, absorption loss
due to metal in plasmonic waveguides does not play an
7 DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.8b01337
Perspective
important role and can be disregarded. The net benefits are that
the group velocity coincides with the energy velocity, providing a
simpler interpretation, and that the same intuitive theoretical
formalism can be used for both plasmonic and photonic slow
waveguides, enabling a direct comparison of each scheme.
General Electromagnetic Theorem for Slow Modes.
We start by deriving a relation between the power flow and the
group velocity of slow guided modes. Throughout the
Perspective, we place no restriction on the geometry, and we
denote by ε0ε(x, y) the arbitrary cross-section permittivity
distribution of the plasmonic waveguide. The waveguide
permeability is equal to the vacuum permeability μ0 everywhere
Our analysis relies on basic electromagnetic laws of z-invariant
waveguides.43 We consider a guided mode at frequency ω,
[En(r), H n(r)] = [e(x , y), h(x , y)]exp i(βz − ωt ) (8)
the claddings and a propagation constant denoted by β. Note
that we drop the index “n” in e(x, y) and h(x, y) for simplicity.
For any infinitely large transverse cross-section Σ of the
applied to waveguides43 leads to the simple relationship
1
ÄÅ ÉÑ
∬Σ Re(e × h*)·ẑ dx dy
ÅÅ ∂(ωε) 2 2Ñ
Ñ
ÅÅε ÑÑdx dy
2
ΣÅ
Å ÑÑ
ÅÇ ÑÖ
dω
=
dβ
∬ 0
∂ω
·| e| + μ0
| h|
(9)
For photonic waveguides, the modes are Bloch modes. The
latter are pseudoperiodic functions of z, with a field distribution
still given by eq 8, except that e(x, y) and h(x, y) are now periodic
functions of z, e.g., e(x, y, z + a) = e(x, y, z). Accounting for this
extraperiodicity, eq 9 becomes44
1
∬Σ Re(e × h*)·ẑ dx dy
i y
∭ jjjjε0 ∂(∂ωε |e| + μ0 |h|2 zzzzdx dy dz
2
k {
1 dω ) 2
=
4a dβ ω (10)
where the triple integral runs over any unit cell of the periodic
waveguide delimited by two infinitely large cross-sections
separated by the period a. The energetic interpretation of the
classical eqs 9 and 10 evidences that the group velocity dω/dβ of
the wave packet is equal to the velocity at which energy is
conveyed by the mode along the waveguide.
Physics of Slow Waves. There are different ways to
understand the wave deceleration in slow waveguides. For
photonic waveguides, deceleration is due to a distributed back-
reflection, and for plasmonic waveguides an equivalent could be
a negative Goos−Hänchen phase shift at the metal/insulator
interfaces. Perhaps, a most unified way, that we will use
hereafter, consists in considering that deceleration originates
from antiparallel power flows. As beautifully evidenced by
coupled-wave theory,45 slow light in photonic waveguides
results from two counter-propagating waves, each carrying some
energy, which together constitute a quasi-stationary pattern.45,46
Similarly, for plasmonic waveguides, because the permittivities
of metallic and dielectric layers are opposite, the z-component of
the Poynting vector is positive in dielectric layers, whereas it is
negative in the metallic layers.
In this picture, ultimate slowdowns as the group (or the
energy) velocity approaches zero are often seen as resulting from
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ACS Photonics Perspective

a perfect balance, for photons when the quasi-stationary pattern
of photonic waveguides becomes perfectly stationary or for
plasmons when the energy flows in the metal and in the
dielectrics are exactly opposite. Albeit intuitive and widespread,
see for instance the introduction of the recent review article,6
this picture however carries some flaw.
The power flows indeed never exactly cancel out, even as the
energy velocity asymptotically tends toward zero. A convincing
counterexample is found by considering the MIM gap mode, for
which, as shown above, the power flows in the dielectric gap and
in the metal clads are respectively Pfor = −4h02/(ωε0εm) > 0 and
Pback = 2h02/(ωε0εm) < 0 in the limit of small gap widths (i.e., Pfor
= 2 and Pback = −1 for a normalized gap mode). The energy flows
do not balance: no matter the smallness of vg and no matter the
convention for the normalization, the power flow in the gap is
twice as larger as the power flow in the metal on that example.
For a general and intuitive argument clearly evidencing that
power flows cannot exactly cancel, imagine an adiabatic taper
flows of the slow mode on the right side of the taper tend to
exactly balance as vg → 0 and Φs → 0. Applying now the
Poynting theorem to the blue boxes, Φ1 + Φf + Φs = 0, one gets
Φ1 = −Φf since Φs → 0: we arrive at the contradictory
conclusion that any slowdown is automatically accompanied by
radiation on the lateral sides of the taper. Perfectly (or
adiabatically) stopping light would then be impossible. This is
indeed wrong, as we know from slowdown practice for lossless
1D systems, for which there is no loss by absorption nor by
scattering in the clads, by construction.
It is important to find out where we get the misconception of
the exactly balanced flow and to understand in detail the
principle of adiabatic tapering. For that purpose, refer to eq 9 or
10 and consider that the power f low (left-hand-side term) is
constant (Φs = −Φf) for any cross-section of the taper, even for
instance for cross-section planes close to the tip apex where the
group velocity vanishes. The right-hand-side term of the
equation should then remain constant as vg → 0, implying that

ÅÄ ÑÉ
that progressively transforms a fast mode with a power flow Φf

∬Σ ÅÅÅÅÅε0 ∂(∂ωε |e| + μ0 |h|2 ÑÑÑÑdx dy should diverge with ng, both for
the surface integral of the electromagnetic energy density

incident from the left into an outgoing slow mode with a power
flow Φs; see Figure 3. Further wrongly assume that the opposite
Figure 3. Impossibility of adiabatically slowing down up to vanishing vg
(stopping light) if modes with vg = 0 have a null power flow. Indeed,
perfect adiabaticity is theoretically possible as shown with studies on 1D
lossless thin-film slow light channels, for which Φ1 is null by
construction.
Ç ÑÖ
) 2
ω
photonic and plasmonic waveguides. There is no problem with
energy conservation, as the product of the vanishing velocity and
the diverging electromagnetic energy density remains constant.
The fact that the divergence of the electromagnetic density is not
observed in practice, because of absorption loss or imperfec-
tions, will be discussed in Section 4.
Scaling Laws at Small Group Velocities. Now that the
physics of slow waves is clarified, let us see how the
electromagnetic fields scale as vg vanishes. With the power
flow being nonzero even for vanishing group velocities, slow
modes can be normalized such that their power flow is 1. This is
the classical convention adopted hereafter.
We start by slow photons. Since the left-hand side of eq 10
equals 1, the equality of the electric and magnetic energy
densities directly implies that both the electric and magnetic
fields scale as
|En| , |H n| ∝ ng (11)

Figure 4. Field enhancement of normalized slow waves with unitary power flows. (a) Photonic case: both the electric and magnetic field intensities
scale as the first power of ng. Since the taper is almost perfect (0.997 efficiency for this 2D simulation47), a strong ×20 intensity enhancement is
observed between the slow mode (ng = 100) and the fast one (ng ≈ 3). Note that the expected ×30 enhancement is not really implemented because the
transverse profiles of the slow and fast modes are slightly different. (b) Plasmonic MIM case: because of the additional transversal geometry change
(gap width reduction) as the group velocity is lowered, the electric field intensity (not the magnetic one) increases at a much faster rate, proportionally
to ng2. The normalized intensity profiles are computed with the aperiodic Fourier modal method.40

8 DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.8b01337
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Table 1. Scaling of the Main Properties of Structural Slow Light and Slow Plasmons (Representative Measured Values Are Given
in Square Brackets)
To derive eq 11, we have additionally neglected the spatial
mode profile dispersion. This assumption, which is only
approximately valid for intermediately small values of the
group velocity, becomes perfectly valid for lower speeds, as vg
only significantly decreases in a narrow spectral range. This well-
known scaling law,38 illustrated in Figure 4a, represents the
building block for slow light applications based on a strong boost
of light−matter interactions.
For translation-invariant plasmonic waveguides, eq 9 holds,
and by assuming unitary power flows, we obtain
∬ ijjjkε0 ∂∂ωε y
|e|2 + μ0 |h|2 zzzdx dy = 1
{
c 1
× photonic waveguide modes are composed of two counter-
ng 4 ω (12)
In sharp contrast with the photonic case, it is essential to
realize that one cannot obtain directly the scaling laws for e or h
from eq 12, owing to the fact that one should change at least one
transverse characteristic dimension of the z-invariant plasmonic
waveguide to tune down the group velocity, thereby radically
changing the transverse mode profile. At large ng for deep-
subwavelength confinements, self-sustained energy oscillations
between magnetic and electric energies no longer hold, and the
oscillations are restored by considering the kinetic energy of the
free carriers involved in the subwavelength plasmon mode.3 A
precise analysis of the scaling of e and h with ng requires knowing
the exact geometry, but, as shown in Section 2 on the textbook
example of MIM waveguides with asymptotically small dielectric
gaps, the magnetic energy becomes negligible and the general
trend is imposed by the balance between the electron-kinetic
and electric-field energies:48
|En| ∝ ng , |H n| ∝ Cte (13)
for normalized plasmonic modes. Noticeably, the electric-field
increase rate for small group velocities is much larger for
plasmons than for photons. The reason comes from the
additional transversal geometry change (gap width reduction)
that is accompanying plasmon slowdowns, as illustrated in
Figure 4b.
Based on the previously presented difference in scaling
between plasmonic and photonic slow waves, it is interesting to
reconsider how the antiparallel power flows scale with ng. There
9 DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.8b01337
Perspective
are indeed differences between the photonic and plasmonic
cases.
Let us denote again by Pfor and Pback the positive powers
flowing forward or backward. The ratio u = Pback/Pfor (0 ≤ u < 1)
is an important parameter that quantifies the slowness. For
photonic waveguide modes operating outside a photonic gap, u
is strictly smaller than 1, and for a normalized Bloch mode with a
unitary power flow (Pfor − Pback = 1), we have Pfor ≈ Pback ∝ ng ≫
1 with (Pback − Pfor)/Pfor ∝ vg/c, since the electromagnetic fields
scale proportionally to ng . This implies that, in the slow light
regime, the quasi-standing-wave patterns of normalized
propagating waves, each carrying a huge power flow that
diverges linearly with ng.
The plasmonic case is markedly different. As the group
velocity vanishes, the plasmonic electric field scales with ng, but
since the confinement also scales with 1/ng, Pback and Pfor both
become constant. For instance, for the MIM waveguide studied
in Section 2, Pfor = 2 and Pback = 1 for a normalized gap mode. In
sharp contrast with photonic waveguides, each flow becomes
independent of ng in the limit of small gaps.
By way of summary, Table 1 provides a recapitulation of main
properties of structural slow photons and slow plasmons.
■
LIMITATIONS OF REAL WAVEGUIDES
Despite their interesting physical properties, slow waves suffer in
practice from important limitations, in particular regarding the
operation bandwidth and the propagation distance. The
available bandwidth, that is, the information content that can
be slowed down or stored, is limited by dispersion, whereas the
propagation distance, which defines the storage time and the
interaction length, is limited by bulk-material absorption and
scattering loss due to fabrication imperfections. The latter are
well documented in the context of photonic-crystal wave-
guides.38,50−52 For plasmonic waveguides, there are only a few
studies on roughness-induced attenuation, and one generally
assumes that the attenuation is dominantly due to absorption. It
is important to have the intrinsic differences and limitations in
mind to optimally exploit slowness with the appropriate scheme
in applications. The following subsections briefly review key
aspects.
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Bandwidth. A major source of limitation of slow light
structure is dispersion. For any system, the operating frequency
is fixed, but in general, the transported signal possesses a
bandwidth, and one should consider how the slowness changes
over the bandwidth. To quantify the limiting impact of group-
velocity dispersion, it is convenient to define a dimensionless
coefficient ) as
Δω Δng
=)
ω ng (14)
which quantifies the variation Δω of ω due to a small variation
Δng at a fixed operating value ng. Large bandwidths are achieved
for large ) s, and reversely small bandwidths for small values.
) can be evaluated by considering the dispersion relation
ω(β). By derivation, it is possible to infer another relation
linking the frequency ω and the group velocity, or equivalently
the group index ng. Consider first a photonic waveguide with a
quadratic dispersion curve ω(β) = (β − π/a)2/2m + ω0 near a
−1
∂ 2ω
band-edge ω0, where a is the period and m = ( )
∂k 2
is the
effective photon mass, which describes the flatness of the
dispersion curve. For ng = (mc2/2)1/2(ω − ω0)1/2, we find
mc 2
)=
ω0ng 2 (15)
−2
which evidences that ) scales with ng . The bandwidth near a
Brillouin zone boundary therefore rapidly decreases as the
operating group velocity decreases.
To estimate ) for slow plasmons, we conveniently use the
2ε
dispersion relation of MIM waveguides, βg = − ε d ; see eq 3.
m expansion methods for realistic waveguide geometries incorpo-
dεm
We obtain ng = (2cεd /g ) ( dω
/εm 2 ), and using a Drude model
εm = ε∞(1 − ωp /ω ), ) then reads as
2 2
) = −1/3 (16)
and is independent of ng.
The bandwidth of photonic waveguides with quadratic
dispersion curves can be enhanced by engineering to locally
flatten the dispersion curve,53 but even so, slow photonic
waveguides operate in a quite narrow frequency range that
remains much smaller than that of slow plasmonic waveguides.
Propagation Length. Since light cannot propagate
indefinitely at low speed due to fabrication imperfections
(surface roughness) or intrinsic material limitations (ohmic
losses), the delay is finite. In general, the longer the delay for a
given device, the narrower the bandwidth, which is why the so-
called “delay−bandwidth product” is such a useful figure of
merit. Let us then consider the propagation length Lp (defined
for a 1/e field attenuation) of slow waveguides.
Qualitatively first, the impact of imperfections can be
estimated by considering a local permittivity change Δε, a
“Dirac” defect, in a waveguide. In the Born approximation, this
defect acts as a local current source, J = −jωΔεEnδ(r − r0),
which is proportional to Δε and to the driving field (the slow
incident mode En). As illustrated in Figure 5, this local source
may radiate into the cladding and induce absorption if the
cladding or the defect absorbs or backscatter light into the
waveguide by exciting the counter-propagating slow mode. The
power Prad radiated into the cladding is proportional to |J|2, and
since J is proportional to En, Prad ∝ |En|2. Similarly, since the
power Pabs absorbed by the defect is proportional to J·En, Pabs ∝ |
10
Perspective
Figure 5. Attenuation channels for a tiny imperfection characterized by
a localized permittivity change Δεδ(r − r0) in a slow waveguide. Energy
can be either radiated into the cladding, backscattered, or absorbed if
Im(Δε) ≠ 0. Radiation into the cladding is equivalent to absorption in
metal clads for MIM waveguides.
En|2. The absorption by metal cladding for plasmonic wave-
guides deserves special care.54 The backscattered power Pback is
proportional to |En·J|2 (the excitation modal coefficient of the
1
normalized back-propagating mode is 4 En·J ),44 so that Pback ∝ |
En|4. These are only general trends, but they all tell us that the
influence of material loss or fabrication imperfection on mode
structure is strong at small group velocities, where even a tiny
amount of loss produces large changes in the dispersion, such
that the group velocity is never zero.55−57 We will investigate this
aspect in more detail now.
Roughness-Induced Attenuation of Photonic Wave-
guides. The propagation of light in real photonic waveguides is
well documented in the literature; absorption can be neglected
with photonic materials, so that roughness of the etched pattern
is the main limiting technological factor. Since |En| ∝ ng , we
have that Prad ∝ ng and Pback ∝ ng2, so that the corresponding
attenuation lengths Lp scale with ng−1 and ng−2, respectively.38
These simple scaling laws have been confirmed by ab initio
electromagnetic computations performed with Bloch-mode-
rating roughness on the sidewalls of the etched holes.50 Theory
predicts typical values for the propagation length that vary
between Lp = 50 and 500 μm for ng = 100 and between Lp = 103
and 104 μm for ng = 30, depending on the accuracy of the
fabrication processes generally on the order of one nanometer or
less. These theoretical predictions are confirmed by exper-
imental transmission and reflection measurements performed
with 100−1000λ long waveguides,18,23,37,51,58 showing a weak
reflected signal for low group indices and a weak transmitted one
at large group indices.
Absorption Loss in Plasmonic Waveguides. The
extremely tight confinement in plasmonic components is due
to the large wavevectors of plasmons. It is inevitably
accompanied by substantial absorption loss, essentially given
by the inverse of the damping rate of the metal. Thus, it is
fundamentally difficult to achieve a long propagation distance at
slow speeds.
To analyze the attenuation due to metal absorption, one
naturally may consider the expression of the absorbed power
Pabs = ω/2 ∬ ε0 Im(εm)|En|2 dS , where the integral runs over
the transverse cross-section of the plasmonic waveguide. Since
En ∝ ng for MIM waveguides (see eq 13), we may infer that Pabs
∝ ng2 at first glance. This however neglects the dispersion of the
transverse mode profile and therefore largely overestimates the
absorption. Instead, we directly rely on eq 9, which is valid for all
reciprocal geometries, and we find that the integral of |e|2 or |En|2
over a cross-section scales as ng. This evidences that Pabs actually
scales as ng.
More insight into the role of mode-profile dispersion can be
gained by considering the textbook case of MIM waveguides.
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We showed in Section 2 that, as the gap width decreases, the gap-
plasmon effective index neff = cβ/ω ∝ λ/g increases; see eq 3.
Thus, the penetration depth of the gap plasmon mode into the
c
metal, ω (neff 2 − εm)−1, decreases and becomes shorter than the
skin depth. The effective area contributing to the cross-section
integral in Pabs = ω/2 ∬ ε0 Im(εm)|En|2 dS diminishes. It is thus
the field confinement in the immediate vicinity of the MI
interfaces that is responsible for the ng scaling of the absorbed
power and not the ng2 scaling of our naive approach. Despite this
lowering, the attenuation due to absorption is drastic in
plasmonic waveguides. For instance, for a Ag/SiO2/Ag wave-
guide with εAg = −27 + i1.5 at λ = 800, one finds Lp ≈ 300 nm for
ng = 10 and barely 100 nm for ng = 30.
Roughness-Induced Attenuation in Plasmonic Wave-
guides. Since Pback ∝ |En|4 and |En| ∝ ng for plasmonic
waveguides (compared to |En| ∝ ng for photonic waveguides),
roughness-induced backscattering is plasmonic waveguides is
scaling as ∝ ng4 and is expected to significantly alter the
propagation of slow plasmons. Moreover, since Pabs only scales
as ng comparatively, one may wonder if backscattering may
become the dominant attenuation mechanism at small group
velocities.
This possibility has not been explored experimentally.
Theoretically since imperfections at metal−dielectric interfaces
result in a large Δε, the local current source J is not simply
proportional to the plasmon mode field and local-field
corrections should be considered.59 Additionally, the plasmon-
mode profile disperses as the group velocity is lowered. This may
explain why theoretical analyses on roughness-induced attenu-
ation in plasmonic waveguides are rare.
Imperfections in MIM waveguides with large gap widths
(operating away from the slow regime) have first been
documented in ref 60; a strong impact has been predicted but
for relatively large roughness (∼4 nm) obtained for films
deposited by use of conventional e-beam evaporation. Slow
propagation and small roughness have been analyzed49 for either
chemically synthesized metal films or flakes, for which the metal
surfaces are essentially atomically flat, except for some potential
monatomic adlayer defects or high-quality polycrystalline metal
films composed of large grains with a small residual roughness
and separated by deep valleys that are remnants of grain
boundaries.61 The predictive conclusions are that back-
reflection due to imperfection is completely negligible for
chemically synthesized metal films. For polycrystalline films,
back-reflection is predicted to be much stronger than for
photonic crystal waveguides, in accordance with the scaling laws,
and become more impactful than absorption for very small
speed regimes (ng > 30).
We might think that slow photons are much more sensitive to
roughness than slow plasmons. This is actually not true, as
evidenced by the different scaling laws in ng4 for plasmons and
ng2 for photons. The strong impact of roughness is in fact hidden
by absorption for usual slowness (ng ≈ 5−20). Despite having an
obvious weaker scaling ∝ng2 than backscattering, absorption is
the dominant attenuation channel.49 The reason is simply that
absorption (∝ng) occurs over the entire metal volume, whereas
backscattering (∝ng 4 ) is due only to surface-localized defects.
Impossibility to Reach Ultraslow Regimes. Some of the
first experimental investigations of the speed of light transport in
monomode photonic-crystal waveguides reported group veloc-
ities of c/50 and c/150,37 whereas in other types of experiments
11
Perspective
group velocities lower than c/1000 were seemingly observed.62
For slow plasmons, experiments seemed to evidence that novel
metallic waveguide structures drastically reduce the propagation
speed and may even stop broadband light, producing the so-
called “trapped rainbows”.63,64 As we will now show, the very
notion of group velocity loses all meaning at such small group
velocities for both photons and plasmons.
There are two regimes for slow photons.52,56,65 Far from the
band-edges, where the concept of group velocity applies, tiny
fabrication errors introduce random spatial dephasing of the
propagating field, and, as the interference between multiply
scattered propagating waves may be destructive, propagating
light is exponentially damped with an attenuation coefficient
proportional to ng2 due to backscattering.38 This well-known
scaling is valid only in a double limit, when the disorder level
tends toward zero at a fast enough rate compared to vg to
guarantee that the impact of random imperfections on transport
remains perturbative.52 In practice, the disorder level, albeit very
weak, is fixed and given by the employed nanofabrication
technique. A sudden breakdown of the perturbative regime,
which inevitably ceases to be valid at small speeds, thus
eventually occurs. In this “ultraslow” regime, light propagating in
the randomly perturbed periodic waveguide not only experi-
ences random phase-shifts, but also strong back-reflection due to
vg-enhanced impedance mismatches or stop-band reflection for
slow light operated near band-edges.52 The back-reflection
results in strong interference between multiply scattered waves,
leading to the formation of wavelength-scale localized modes,
similar in nature to photonic-crystal microcavity modes. In this
regime, the wavenumber k cannot be considered as a good
quantum number anymore, and the group velocity evidently
loses physical significance.56,57
The same physics hold for slow plasmons, except that the
situation is even worse since absorption loss additionally comes
into play and the localization regime is even not reached in
practice; the plasmon is damped in space or in time before
forming disordered resonant cavities. The literature is quite
misleading on that matter.
■ LIGHT EMISSION AND LDOS ENGINEERING IN
SLOW WAVEGUIDES
Controlling light emission at the single-photon level is one of the
major challenges in modern photonics, with great promises for
quantum communications, quantum computing, and optoelec-
tronics thanks to devices such as highly efficient nonclassical
light sources, low-threshold lasers, and single-photon switches
or diodes. Probably the most important problem to address to
reach this aim is the realization of efficient coupling between an
emitter and a single guided mode. This coupling is described by
the β-factor that is the ratio between the power emitted into the
mode of interest and the total emitted power. It may thus be
made close to unity by boosting the emission into the mode
and/or reducing the emission into the other decay channels.
Quantitatively, the amplitude coupling coefficient between a
dipole-current J0δ(r − r0) and translation-invariant43 or periodic
waveguides44 is proportional to the electric field of the
normalized mode at the source position r0. Slow modes with
large field enhancements (∝ ng for photons and ∝ng for
plasmons) are thus expected to offer near-unity couplings. In
this section, we review the basic principles underlying light
emission in slow waveguides and identify the most promising
strategies for near-unity β-factors.
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ACS Photonics Perspective

Figure 6. Efficient funneling of the spontaneous decay of individual optical emitters into slow modes. (a) Slow photons: near-unity funneling into a
single slow mode can be achieved provided that the LDOS of the slow mode is much higher than the LDOS of the clad modes. (b) Slow plasmons: even
if tiny gaps lead to gap plasmons with extremely large LDOS, near-unity funneling is prohibited because of near-field nonradiative decay in the metal
(quenching).

Figure 7. Slow plasmons on single metal−dielectric interfaces. (a) Radiation of a vertical dipole current above a Ag/polymer interface. The color scale
represents log10(|E|2) of the total electric field for a dipole−metal separation distance d = 4 nm. The oscillating dipole decay is coupled into radiation
modes detected in the far field, into surface plasmons launched on the surface, or directly transformed by near-field coupling as Joule heating in the
metal just beneath the source. (b) Usual dispersion relation, Re k̃ − ω, of surface plasmons at a flat interface between a Drude-metal with a relative
permittivity εm = 1 − ωp2/(ω2 − iγω) and a dielectric material with a relative permittivity εd = 1. (c) Quasi-normal mode dispersion relation, Re ω̃ − k.
Slow plasmons with large k show up, but their lifetime is vanishingly small. The horizontal asymptote (dashed curve) occurs for a complex frequency
ω̃ SP, verifying εm(ω̃ SP) + εd = 0. (b and c) Both curves are obtained by solving eq 17. ωp is the plasma frequency and γ = 0.02ωp. The black line is the
light line of the air clad.

Emission in Slow Photonic Waveguides. The possibility
of achieving near-unity β-factors is well comprehended for slow
photonic waveguides; see Figure 6a. On one hand, the
enhancement (Purcell effect) of the LDOS scales with ng in
1D systems, thereby boosting the emission into the slow mode
when approaching the band-edge. On the other hand, photonic-
crystal waveguides offer great flexibility in loss engineering, such
that it is also possible to drastically reduce emission into the
other decay channels.44 β-Factors above 90% can hence be
achieved even without strong LDOS enhancement, i.e., by
operating at moderate ng values.
Unsurprisingly, the main limitation in terms of performance
comes from fabrication imperfections, which yield the formation
of localized modes with unpredictable spatial positions, resonant
frequencies, and quality factors.66 This limitation may be
mitigated by using waveguides shorter than the localization
length. In addition, when using emitters with a sharp spectral
response, it is necessary to match the emission frequency with a
desired ng. One can show that the highest ng that may be aimed at
12
in the presence of disorder scales as m ,67 with m the effective
photon mass. One should therefore preferably opt for photonic
waveguides with a large effective photon mass, i.e., flat dispersion
curves, for optimal performance.
To date, near-unity β-factors (β ≈ 0.98) have been reported
with quantum dots embedded in semiclosed photonic-crystal
waveguides operating at ng > 50.9 Such a high efficiency is
achieved on a narrow spectral range, yet it may be broadened up
to a few tens of nanometers at the cost of a slightly lower β-factor
by operating at lower ng values. As an alternative approach to
embedded quantum dots, important efforts are currently being
made to trap cold atoms near photonic structures.68 A recent
study reports β ≈ 0.5 for cold atoms trapped in the so-called
corrugated “alligator” waveguide designed to achieve long-range
interactions between distant atoms for ng ≈ 11.69 The structure
suffers from a much lower effective photon mass and fewer
degrees of freedom for design compared to a photonic-crystal-
type waveguide,67 suggesting that higher performances may be
achieved with new geometries.
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Emission in Slow Plasmonic Waveguides. Compared to
light emission in photonic structures, the decay rate of emitters
into slow plasmons70 is larger and the bandwidth is definitely
much broader. The only gray area is the efficiency issue because
of the prominence of near-field nonradiative decay in the metal
for tiny gaps; see Figure 6b. The whole literature is not always
clear on the role played by plasmons, especially “slow” plasmons
with large parallel momenta, into the decay process. In the
remainder of this section, we analyze this issue, step by step, first
revisiting the classical light emission by a dipole-current located
just above a single MI interface, and then considering the case of
light emission by a dipole-current located in an MIM waveguide,
the objective being to completely clarify the role of slow
plasmons.
Dipolar Emission near a Metal Surface. This problem has
been reviewed by many authors, including ref 71. It contains a
rich variety of physical phenomena. In particular, we know that
the lifetime of an atom placed close to the surface can be
typically reduced by several orders of magnitude,72 implying that
the LDOS close to an interface is drastic. The reduction is due to
several decay channels. A part of the oscillating dipole decay is
coupled into radiation modes detected in the far field, another
part launches surface plasmons on the surface, and another
significant part is directly transformed by near-field coupling
into ohmic loss in the metal just beneath the source, resulting in
a quenching of the far-field emission especially when the dipole
is very close to the surface.72
The plasmon dispersion relation of flat MI interfaces is well
known:73
ω (ωd/c)−3 in the static limit71) and when the dipole frequency ω
k= εdεm /(εm + εd)
c (17)
with k the parallel in-plane wavevector, ω the frequency, εm and
εd the relative permittivities of the metal and dielectric materials.
We will use a Drude metal εm = 1 − ωp2/(ω2 − iγω) for
illustration hereafter. Since εm is complex, either k or ω is
complex and two interpretations, in relation with slow plasmons,
are usually considered.
The first interpretation relies on the dispersion relation
obtained by fixing the frequency to a real value (imposed by the
driving dipole) and by directly solving eq 17 for complex k̃’s,
denoted with a tilde to emphasize their complex nature; the
imaginary part of k̃ is related to the inverse of the attenuation
length of the plasmon mode. The dispersion relation Re k̃ − ω is
shown in Figure 7b. This plasmon mode is the analogue of the
photonic-crystal mode of the previous section or the gap-
plasmon mode analyzed in Section 2; it is a guided mode with a
spatial damping due to absorption.
Because realistic values for the loss are taken into account in
Figure 7, the relation exhibits a back bending for a relatively low
value of Re k̃, Re k ̃ ≈
εd
ωp/c . In this real frequency
2(1 + εd)
representation, no slow plasmons with large k are launched,73
even when the emission frequency is close to ωp/(1 + εd)1/2 and
the dipole is very close to the surface. This result contrasts with
the emission in MIM waveguides with small gaps, presented
below, for which we will show that guided gap plasmons with
large k̃’s are excited at any frequency.
Another representation of the same physics relies on the
quasinormal modes (QNMs)74 that are the natural plasmon
resonances with a complex frequency ω̃ of the MI interface. The
QNMs possess a sinusoidal spatial dependence parallel to the
surface (no spatial damping) and a finite lifetime proportional to
13
Perspective
the inverse of Im ω̃ . The relation dispersion, Re ω̃ − k, shown in
Figure 7c, is calculated by solving the transcendental eq 17 at
complex frequencies for fixed k. Now, plasmon QNMs with
arbitrary large k’s (since quantum effects are not considered71)
are obtained for a certain complex frequency ω̃ SP, such that
εm(ω̃ SP) + εd = 0 i.e., ω̃SP = ωp (1 + εd) + iγ /2 for γ ≪ ωp.
The QNMs form a complete basis, so that the field radiated by
the dipole at the (real) excitation frequency ω can be
reconstructed from a sum over all QNMs.74
For illumination by a local oscillating dipole-current placed in
the near field, QNMs with arbitrarily large k’s are excited.
Intuitively, we anticipate that all modes are excited in phase at
the dipole position, so that their respective contributions add up
constructively especially just beneath the dipole, where strong
absorption takes place, as evidenced by the hot spot in Figure 7a.
Away from the source on the surface, all the sinusoidal QNMs
are not phased and the sum of their field is no longer
constructive, so that the contribution of high-k modes to the
reconstructed field rapidly decreases away from the dipole in the
metal, as shown in Figure 7a. Moreover, very high-k modes have
a very fast transversal decay (∝k−1) and are thus excited only
when the dipole is very close to the surface. This implies that, as
the distance d between the dipole and the surface decreases, the
hot spot becomes more intense and localized. Thus, with the
QNM interpretation, in contrast with the guided mode
interpretation, high-k slow plasmons play an essential (albeit
detrimental) role in the light emission process; quenching
drastically increases when d decreases (the decay rate scales as
matches Re ω̃ SP, since the excitation coefficients of QNMs with a
frequency ω̃ are proportional to (ω − ω̃ )−1.74
The intuitive description of the role of “slow” plasmons has
been carefully confirmed with numerical simulations obtained
for a silver nanorod in air. By computing several hundreds of
QNMs, it has been shown that the hot spot can be accurately
reconstructed in the QNM basis up to d as small as 1.5 nm; see
Figure 3 in ref 75. The spectrum of the plasmon
eigenfrequencies does not form a continuum for the nanorod
like for the infinite flat interface. Rather they take discrete values.
However, for very small separation distance between the dipole
and the antenna, the dipole “sees” an almost flat surface. The
nanorod spectrum presents an accumulation point at the
plasmon resonance frequency of the flat interface for which
εm(ω̃ SP) + εd = 0,75 showing that these nanorod QNMs are
indeed very similar to those of the flat surface.
Dipolar Emission in MIM Waveguides. Let us now consider
the emission of an oscillating dipole in the dielectric gap of a
MIM waveguide, in the limit of tiny gaps (see Figure 6b). The
conclusions on the role of slow plasmons will be completely
different. Indeed, in full analogy with the single-interface or
antenna cases, the nonradiative decay in the metal is again
present. However, as discussed above, the slow gap plasmons
(Re k̃ − ω) that are launched in the gap have an extremely large
LDOS. Actually, it can be shown analytically that the
nonradiative decay rate (quenching) and the slow-plasmon
decay rate both scale as (k0g)−3. None of the two decay channels
prevail as the gap width g becomes very small. The branching
ratio η (the fraction of the total decay that effectively decay into
the gap mode) becomes an intrinsic quantity, as it is
independent of g, depending solely on εd and on the metal
−1
(
loss Im εm, η ≈ 1 +
Imεm
2εd ) .54,76
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The good news is that the emission is no longer quenched for
tiny gaps so that, provided that the gap plasmon mode is
efficiently tapered into a photonic mode,54 large efficiencies are
achievable. The downside of the existence of a branching ratio is
that the efficiency cannot reach unity. This imposes a limitation
on the β-factors that usually not exceed 80% for MIM54,77−79 or
IMI80,81 waveguides and remain significantly smaller than their
photonics counterparts.
■ PERSPECTIVES AND CONCLUSIONS
The applications of slow photonic waveguides in both linear and
nonlinear optics are so diverse that it is impossible to cover them
all even briefly. Slow photons are useful to realize compact all-
optical buffer memories, which is one of the most important
missing components for the construction of various all-optical
processing devices such as photonic routers. They are also useful
to funnel light emission into a single channel and to enhance
various light−matter interactions in nonlinear optics. We have
no choice but to note that slow photon applications rarely
feature a speed reduction greater than 10−20. For instance,
moderate ng values (∼30) are used in photonic-crystal and
coupled-resonator waveguides to implement delay lines over
millimeter distances.23,82,83 For short devices such as low-power
optical switches,20 typical ng values of ∼50 are met in practice.
Interesting perspectives may arise with regimes of smaller
group velocities. Remembering that the attenuation length Lp of
photonic waveguides at λ = 1500 nm and ng = 100 varies from 50
to 500 μm according to the fabrication technology and that Lp ∝
ng−2, we anticipate that slow light at ng = 300−500 may
propagate over 10-period long distances before backscattering
takes place. Since remarkably short and efficient tapers have
been designed47,84 (see Figure 4a) and successfully imple-
mented in many slow-light experiments,9,85−87 devices that
feature a sudden reduction of the group velocity followed by a
few-periods-long ultraslow section and a reciprocal acceleration
to return to the initial speed appear within reach. Applications
may include all-optical processing on chip, biosensors, or new
resonator-like devices with anomalous step-like spectral trans-
mission. However, as ultraslow photonic waveguides and
microcavities have a lot in common, especially for large ng
when it becomes difficult to engineer waveguide dispersion,84
attention should be paid not to repeat earlier works with high-Q
microcavities.
Comparatively, slow-plasmon studies are more prospective.
Slow plasmons can only propagate over very small distances, due
to absorption. Their applications must therefore inevitably rely
on components with very short lengths, not longer than a few
hundreds of nanometers. Two main slow-plasmon components
have emerged in the past decade, namely, nanofocusing tapers
and slow-plasmon nanocavities or nanoantennas.
Nanofocusing devices that taper and concentrate optical
energy into nanoscale objects and structures probably constitute
the most important device using slow plasmons. Various
geometries based on MIM and IMI configurations have been
successfully implemented, e.g., conical metal rods with a
rounded tip for near-field imaging, metal wedges on substrates
such as in Figure 3, or exotic structures such as metal−
insulator−insulator (MII) wedges88 or tapered chains of
coupled nanoparticles;89 see ref 36 for a review. The whole
literature suggests that adiabatic tapering into deep-subwave-
length slow plasmons is relatively easy to implement, since for
sufficiently short tapers the local field enhancement along the
taper could efficiently compensate for the dissipative reduction
14
Perspective
of the plasmon amplitude. Nanofocusing devices have been used
in many applications, yet many new ones appear every year for
high-harmonic generation and hot-electron plasmon-assisted
generation; see ref 63 for a review.
The second important slow-plasmon device is nanocavity or
nanoantenna. At deep-subwavelength dimensions, these com-
ponents are essentially “Fabry−Perot cavities” involving slow
plasmons that propagate in a slow waveguide and are reflected at
the waveguide terminations. For instance, the dipolar resonance
of a simple nanorod immersed in a dielectric background can be
considered as resulting from the bouncing back and forth of two
IMI plasmon modes between the wire facets. Similarly, two
MIM plasmon modes are involved in the dipole and quadrupole
modes of cut-wire-pair resonators and nanopatch antennas.
As the transverse dimensions (the rod diameter or gap width)
are scaled down, the physics is the same. The fundamental IMI
or MIM plasmon modes experience a monotonic increase in
transverse localization and effective index (see eq 3), implying
that by reducing the nanoresonator length by the same scaling
factor, the resonance wavelength is maintained.90,91 This simple
model that promotes slow plasmons as an integral part of the
near-field response of deep-subwavelength nanoresonators
predicts well the resonance frequency. Pushed further, it also
explains how important quantities such as the Q factor, the
absorption, or the facet reflectivity scale.90 In particular, it
predicts that the Purcell factor scales as g−3,54 making slow-
plasmon nanoresonators or nanoantennas a serious candidate
for an ultimate control of light emission,10,91,92 especially if an
accurate control of the conversion of the slow gap plasmons into
free-space photons is implemented by engineering the tapered
facets to boost the photon generation yield.
In summary, we have provided a comparative overview of the
physical mechanisms by which wave deceleration is achieved in
plasmonic and photonic waveguides. The scaling laws of various
important physical quantities (field enhancement, bandwidth,
attenuation) as a function of ng have been presented; see Table
1. Slow plasmonic and photonic waveguides share many
common features, but they have also distinct properties. We
think that the key fundamental property responsible for the
difference, notably for the mode intensities (∝ng for slow
photons and ∝ng2 for slow plasmons), is that the slow mode of
photonic waveguides retains the same profile as light is slowed
down, whereas the plasmon-mode profile drastically changes for
plasmonic waveguides.
Slow-plasmon devices are generally operating at much lower
ng than slow-photon devices (ng = 15 corresponds to insulator
gap width of g = 2 nm at visible wavelengths). One should
nevertheless remember that slow plasmons and photons have
different field-enhancement scalings (|En| ∝ ng for plasmons and
|En| ∝ ng for photons), so that it is rather illogical to compare
plasmonic and photonic devices for the same ng. In this respect, a
plasmonic taper operating at ng = 15 would be equivalent to a
photonic taper operating at ng ≈ 225 in our analogy.
Toward strong field enhancement and ultimate miniatur-
ization, the recent literature has promoted slow plasmons as the
pinnacle of slowness in nanophotonics. Indeed, field enhance-
ment and bandwidth are decisive figures of merit that render
plasmon wave deceleration incomparably more attractive than
photon wave deceleration. However, from other perspectives,
the benefit of the deep-subwavelength confinement (or
miniaturization) brought by plasmons is not as clear. All-optical
switches are perhaps the most important building blocks for on-
DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.8b01337
ACS Photonics 2019, 6, 4−17
ACS Photonics
chip all-optical processing. Switching is generally achieved by
modulating the cavity transmission intensity by illuminating the
cavity with a control light beam, which shifts the resonance
wavelength via the intensity-dependent refractive index of the
cavity material. The required switching power scales as V/Q2,18
because the light intensity in the cavity is proportional to Q/V,
and the required wavelength shift is proportional to Q−1. In
contrast to spontaneous rate (Purcell) enhancements,10 it thus
becomes unclear if plasmons, with their drastic reduction of V
often counterbalanced by an inevitable Q reduction due to
absorption, can really be competitive in devices exploiting, for
example, optical nonlinearities.
We expect that this short comparison leads to a balanced point
of view between slow plasmonic and photonic waveguides.
■
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail: philippe.lalanne@institutoptique.fr.
ORCID
Philippe Lalanne: 0000-0003-1979-2290
Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
■
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The work was partly supported by the French State managed by
the French National Agency for Research (ANR) in the frame of
the “Investments for the Future” Programme IdEx Bordeaux−
LAPHIA (Grant No. ANR-10-IDEX-03-02) and by Bordeaux
University.
■
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17 DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.8b01337
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