Design of plasmonic photonic crystal resonant cavities for polarization sensitive infrared photodetectors

We design a polarization-sensitive resonator for use in mid-infrared photodetectors, utilizing a photonic crystal cavity and a single or double-metal plasmonic waveguide to achieve enhanced detector efficiency due to superior optical confinement within the active region. As the cavity is highly frequency and polarization-sensitive, this resonator structure could be used in chip-based infrared spectrometers and cameras that can distinguish among different materials and temperatures to a high degree of precision. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America