Graphene plasmonic communication link

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9335471-B2
Application number	US-201514821179-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 7, 2015
Priority date	Mar 8, 2013
Publication date	May 10, 2016
Grant date	May 10, 2016

Abstract

A signal transfer link includes a first plasmonic coupler, and a second plasmonic coupler spaced apart from the first plasmonic coupler to form a gap. An insulator layer is formed over end portions of the first and second plasmonic couplers and in and over the gap. A plasmonic conductive layer is formed over the gap on the insulator layer to excite plasmons to provide signal transmission between the first and second plasmonic couplers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A signal transfer link, comprising:
a first plasmonic coupler;
a second plasmonic coupler spaced apart from the first plasmonic coupler to form a gap;
an insulator layer formed over end portions of the first and second plasmonic couplers and in and over the gap;
a plasmonic conductive layer formed over the gap on the insulator layer to excite plasmons to provide signal transmission between the first and second plasmonic couplers; and
at least one gate structure present over the plasmonic conductive layer that provides a gate field for modulating the signal transmission in the signal transfer link, wherein changing a gate area of the at least one gate structure causes a phase shift in the signal transmission.

2. The link as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plasmonic conductive layer includes graphene.

3. The link as recited in claim 1 , wherein the first and second plasmonic couplers include nano-antennae.

4. The link as recited in claim 1 , wherein the link includes a communication link between at least two components on an integrated circuit chip.

5. The link as recited in claim 1 , wherein the link includes a communication link between at least two integrated circuit chips.

6. The link as recited in claim 1 , further comprising at least one impedance transformation component to adjust impedance for signal transfer.

7. The link as recited in claim 1 , wherein the link is flexible.

8. The link as recited in claim 1 , wherein the link is visibly transparent.

9. The link as recited in claim 1 , wherein the link provides data transfer at a rate of between 100 GHz and 10 THz.

10. The link as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plasmonic conductive layer includes a metal grating.

11. A signal transfer link, comprising:
a first plasmonic coupler;
a second plasmonic coupler disposed in a same plane as the first plasmonic coupler and spaced apart from the first plasmonic coupler by a gap;
an insulator layer formed over end portions of the first and second plasmonic couplers and in and over the gap, the insulator having a thickness configured to prevent electrical connection between the first and second plasmonic couplers;
a plasmonic conductive layer including graphene formed over the gap on the insulator layer and overlapping the end portions of the first and second plasmonic couplers such that an electrical signal from one of the first and second plasmonic couplers is converted to a plasmonic signal in the plasmonic conductive layer; and
at least one gate structure present over the plasmonic conductive layer that provides a gate field for modulating the plasmonic signal in the signal transfer link, wherein changing a gate area of the at least one gate structure causes a phase shift in the plasmonic signal.

12. The link as recited in claim 11 , wherein the plasmonic signal is then converted back to an electrical signal in the other of the first and second plasmonic couplers.

13. The link as recited in claim 11 , wherein the link includes a communication link between at least two components on an integrated circuit chip.

14. The link as recited in claim 11 , wherein the link includes a communication link between at least two integrated circuit chips.

15. The link as recited in claim 11 , further comprising at least one impedance transformation component to adjust impedance for signal transfer.

16. The link as recited in claim 11 , wherein the link is flexible and visibly transparent.

17. The link as recited in claim 11 , wherein the link includes a gate field, wherein the gate field is selectively enabled to modulate a signal in the link.

18. The link as recited in claim 11 , wherein the link provides data transfer at a rate of between 100 GHz and 10 THz.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Avouris Phaedon
• Perebeinos Vasili
• Steiner Mathias B
• Valdes Garcia Alberto

Classifications

• G02F2203/10

  plasmon · CPC title

• H04B10/802

  for isolation, e.g. using optocouplers · CPC title

• G02B6/1226 Primary

  involving surface plasmon interaction · CPC title

• G02F2203/13

  involving THZ radiation · CPC title

• H04B10/90

  Non-optical transmission systems, e.g. transmission systems employing non-photonic corpuscular radiation · CPC title