Variable optical attenuator and modulator based on a graphene plasmonic gap waveguide

Variable optical attenuation and optical modulation are essential operations in integrated photonic circuits. A new graphene plasmonic gap waveguide structure, which possesses the functions of variable optical attenuator and modulator, is proposed and numerically investigated. The propagation and attenuation modes of the structure can be realized by tuning the gate-voltage. The result shows that it can achieve great modulation depth per micrometer and the working frequency range of 8 THz or more for the variable optical attenuator and the modulator. It also has the advantages of high tolerance, large attenuation range/ modulation depth, wide bandwidth and high integration without crosstalk, which would be promising for high integrated optical circuits.