Simulation of complex plasmonic circuits including bends.

Using a finite-element, full-wave modeling approach, we present a flexible method of analyzing and simulating dielectric and plasmonic waveguide structures as well as their mode coupling. This method is applied to an integrated plasmonic circuit where a straight dielectric waveguide couples through a straight hybrid long-range plasmon waveguide to a uniformly bent hybrid one. The hybrid waveguide comprises a thin metal core embedded in a two-dimensional dielectric waveguide. The performance of such plasmonic circuits in terms of insertion losses is discussed. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America