Plasmonic waveguides cladded by hyperbolic metamaterials

Abstract: Strongly anisotropic media with hyperbolic dispersion can be used for claddings of plasmonic waveguides. In order to analyze the fundamental properties of such waveguides, we analytically study 1D waveguides arranged of a hyperbolic metamaterial (HMM) in a HMM-Insulator-HMM (HIH) structure. We show that hyperbolic metamaterial claddings give flexibility in designing the properties of HIH waveguides. Our comparative study on 1D plasmonic waveguides reveals that HIH-type waveguides can have a higher performance than MIM or IMI waveguides.