Compact terahertz Surface Plasmon switch inside a Two Dimensional Electron Gas layer

The possibility of realizing a terahertz (THz) switch by employing Surface Plasmons (SPs) along a Two Dimensional Electron Gas (2DEG) layer of a hetero-structure is presented. It is shown that SP's properties may be easily controlled by changing the motion of the electrons inside the 2DEG. The electron drift velocity is controlled by applying an external bias voltage at the 2DEG's ends. A compact and efficient THz switch with high On/OFF signal ratio is reported using this concept. The control voltage of the switch is considerably low. A multi-physic simulator, based on numerical solution of Maxwell's and Boltzmann's equations, is developed to analyze the switch appropriately. This micro-meter size plasmonic switch demonstrates a very promising method for navigating the sub-wavelength THz signals inside future plasmonic circuits.