Structural Slow Waves: Parallels between Photonic Crystals and Plasmonic Waveguides
Abstract
The slowdown of propagating electromagnetic waves by engineering waveguide structures is receiving considerable attention in nanophotonics. Two types of structures are independently investigated, namely, diffraction-limited photonic-crystal waveguides and highly confined plasmonic waveguides. Here we propose a unified viewpoint on slow waveguide structures by analyzing both approaches within a single theoretical framework. This allows us to clarify the physical mechanisms underlying slownessthereby highlighting their inherent differencesand to remove some inaccurate ideas on the topic. We further discuss the strengths and weaknesses of plasmonic and photonic slow waveguides, assess the technical and scientific challenges recently solved, and critically identify those that still stand in the way.
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BibTeX
@article{lalanne2026structural,
title = {{Structural Slow Waves: Parallels between Photonic Crystals and Plasmonic Waveguides}},
author = {Philippe Lalanne and Stéphane Coudert and Guillaume Duchateau and Stefan Dilhaire and Kevin Vynck},
journal = {ACS photonics},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1021/acsphotonics.8b01337},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-02397200v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Structural Slow Waves: Parallels between Photonic Crystals and Plasmonic Waveguides
AU - Philippe Lalanne
AU - Stéphane Coudert
AU - Guillaume Duchateau
AU - Stefan Dilhaire
AU - Kevin Vynck
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/12
JO - ACS photonics
DO - 10.1021/acsphotonics.8b01337
UR - https://hal.science/hal-02397200v1
AB - The slowdown of propagating electromagnetic waves by engineering waveguide structures is receiving considerable attention in nanophotonics. Two types of structures are independently investigated, namely, diffraction-limited photonic-crystal waveguides and highly confined plasmonic waveguides. Here we propose a unified viewpoint on slow waveguide structures by analyzing both approaches within a single theoretical framework. This allows us to clarify the physical mechanisms underlying slownessthereby highlighting their inherent differencesand to remove some inaccurate ideas on the topic. We further discuss the strengths and weaknesses of plasmonic and photonic slow waveguides, assess the technical and scientific challenges recently solved, and critically identify those that still stand in the way.
SN - 2330-4022
ER -