UC San Diego

In recent years, the miniaturization of optical elements has become increasingly important for various applications, such as high-speed communication, imaging, and sensing. This dissertation focuses on developing and optimizing novel techniques for miniaturizing optical elements using advanced optical modulation and fabrication processes. The primary objective of this research is to investigate the potential of hybrid plasmonic fabrication methods for reducing the bending radius of spirals and engineering solutions for creating compact versions of state-of-the-art isolators.To achieve this goal, a combination of hybrid plasmonic in cylindrical topology and Fabry-Perot resonators was utilized to facilitate increased interaction between the propagating mode and nonlinear materials. The research also examined the impact of reduced waveguide bending radius and variations in the width of two adjacent waveguides in Archimedes spiral configurations. Additionally, an optical Tesla valve, a pseudo-isolator, was developed by leveraging engineered spatial asymmetry to enable asymmetric transmission. The study yielded several key findings, including successfully mitigating coupling-induced crosstalk in waveguides with minimal separation and developing a Tesla valve with optical isolation nearing 40 dB. These results demonstrate the promising potential of the proposed techniques for miniaturizing optical elements and their applicability across various fields.