Electrically Controlled Plasmonic Switches and Modulators

Plasmonic modulators and switches have recently attracted considerable attention because they offer ultracompact size, high bandwidths, and potentially low-power consumption. In this paper, we review and compare the current state of the art of plasmonic switches and discuss the various physical phenomena that are used to perform efficient switching. More precisely, we discuss plasmonic devices based on the thermal effect, the free carrier dispersion effect, the Pockels effect, phase change materials and switching caused by electrochemical metallization.