A Nanoplasmonic Branchline Coupler for Subwavelength Wireless Networks

This article presents the new nanoplasmonic branchline coupler (BLC) by using an edge coupled coplanar waveguide (CPW) with a finite length suspended backed conductor. The proposed coupler is designed by using the theoretical transmission line (TL) method, which is established based on the basic characteristics of the related CPW structures. For this purpose, the normalized propagation constant, propagation length, and characteristic impedance of the conductor backed coplanar waveguide (CBCPW) structure are studied and analyzed by applying a fullwave analysis using CAD simulation software tool CST microwave studio suite. Mainly, the coupling coefficient of the BLC can be controlled by changing the length of the backed conductor. In this article, the BLC is designed and analyzed by using a finite length backed conductor based on the theoretical TL method at a 3-dB coupling coefficient. This newly designed coupler can operate at two arbitrary optical frequency bands (O-band and L-band). Hence, it allows us to exchange many other couplers with their narrow bandwidths using this branchline coupler for subwavelength nanoscale wireless network applications and photonic integrated circuits (PICs).