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Strong absorption near exceptional points in plasmonic waveguide arrays

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Abstract

We investigate the exceptional points (EPs) in plasmonic waveguide arrays, including metallic waveguide arrays (MWAs) and graphene sheet arrays (GSAs). The EPs emerge at the boundary of strong and weak coupling ranges in both systems. The cross conversion of Bloch modes and variation of geometric phase can be observed by encircling an EP in the parametric space. We also show the Bloch modes exhibit strong absorption in the vicinity of EPs in GSAs, which originates from the enhanced longitude electric field along the propagation direction. The abnormal absorption and field enhancement also arise in ultrathin MWAs and disappear when the thickness of metal film increases. Our results may find applications in optical switches and sensors at the nanoscale.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the Program for Distinguished Middle-aged and Young Innovative Research Team in Higher Education of Hubei, China (No. T201806), the Campus Science Foundation Research Project of Wuhan Institute of Technology (No. K201821), and the National Science Foundation of China (No. 11747041).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Optical Information Technology, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, 430205, China

    Shaolin Ke

  2. School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Jianxun Liu, Qingjie Liu, Dong Zhao & Weiwei Liu

  3. School of Electronics Information and Engineering, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning, 437100, China

    Dong Zhao

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  1. Shaolin Ke
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  2. Jianxun Liu
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  3. Qingjie Liu
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  4. Dong Zhao
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  5. Weiwei Liu
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Correspondence to Weiwei Liu.

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Ke, S., Liu, J., Liu, Q. et al. Strong absorption near exceptional points in plasmonic waveguide arrays. Opt Quant Electron 50, 318 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-018-1584-z

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