Metallic plasmonic nano-antenna for wireless optical communication in intra-body nanonetworks

Nanonetworks consist of nano-sized communicating devices which are able to perform simple tasks at the nanoscale. Nanonetworks are the enabling technology for unique applications, including intra-body health-monitoring and drug delivery systems. In this paper, metallic plasmonic nanoantennas for wireless optical communication in intra-body nanonetworks are modeled and analyzed. More specifically, a unified mathematical framework is developed to investigate the performance in reception of gold-based nano-dipole antennas. This framework takes into account the metal properties, i.e., its dynamic complex conductivity and permittivity; the propagation properties of Surface Plasmon Polariton waves on the nano-antenna, i.e., their confinement factor and propagation length; the antenna geometry, i.e., length and radius, and the antenna fundamental resonance frequency, and it can be utilized to obtain the plasmonic currents on the nano-antenna generated by an incident EM filed. In addition to numerical results, the analytical models are validated by means of simulations with COMSOL Multi-physics. The developed framework will guide the design and development of novel nano-antennas suited for wireless optical communication in intra-body nanonetworks.