Semi-analytical design methodology for large scale metal-insulator-metal waveguide networks

A semi-analytical approach for efficient modelling of large scale networks of plasmonic metal-insulator-metal waveguides is proposed and its efficacy is assessed. A simple model for a wide range of waveguide junction configurations that can be obtained using waveguide impedance is utilized. This efficient and accurate model enables full analysis of a complete network of plasmonic waveguides without the need for any full-wave analysis. The proposed approach is computationally efficient and enables rapid design and optimization cycles using these networks. The results obtained using our approach match those obtained with finite difference time domain simulations. Several example structures have been analyzed using this approach, where their performance has been optimized through the multivariable optimization afforded by the technique reported here.