Comparative analysis of graphene-integrated slab waveguides for terahertz plasmonics

•Hybrid and non-hybrid plasmonic slab waveguides based on graphene are studied.•Propagation properties of the structures are exploited at terahertz frequencies.•Comparison of the waveguides is done by four characteristical parameters. This paper presents a comparative study of hybrid and non-hybrid plasmonic slab waveguides based on one and two isolated graphene layers and also hybrid graphene–metal structure. Analysis is performed by analytical approach based on transfer matrix theory and numerical approach based on finite element method. Propagation properties of the structures are exploited at terahertz frequencies. Comparison of the waveguides is done by four characteristical parameters including complex effective refractive index, propagation length, spatial length, and field distribution according to the layer thicknesses and graphene Fermi level (chemical potential). Based on the results, it is easy to choose an appropriate waveguide as the building block for the guided-wave and radiated-wave applications based on graphene.