Abstract — Use of surface-plasmons-polaritons has become a potential way to develop optical components below the diffraction limit. This paper reports the feasibility of some plasmon- polariton waveguides in optical communication systems. Combinations of metal elements of different geometry are theoretically analyzed. They can serve as building blocks in future nanophotonic systems. The spectral responses of these structures show they can be used as frequency selective components in optical communication windows for wavelength division multiplex applications. Keywords – Nanophotonics, surface-plasmon-polaritons, subwavelength waveguiding structures. I. INTRODUCTION A continuous miniaturization of conventional optical components based on fiber optics is not straightforward because it is restricted by the diffraction limit of light. A promising way to overcome such limit is manipulation of surface-plasmon-polaritons (SPPs). These electromagnetic waves propagate along a metal-dielectric interface by a resonant interaction between photons and free electrons at the conductor surface. The wavelength of a SPP wave is many orders less than the wavelength of light and, as consequence, has the ability to confine and enhance electromagnetic fields at nanoscale. The paper [1] published in Nature is considered as a milestone of plasmonic technology The advances in nanostructurization of metals have allowed the exploration of SPP properties showing the feasibility to develop nanophotonic networks. From a suitable design of metal-dielectric interface, one may confine light into a nanosized area and transmit the optical signal over micrometric distances with low attenuation. These features are not only very attractive for introduction of plasmon devices in current optical technology, as optical-fiber-based networks, but pave a way to implement a new generation of all-optical components for usage in nanoprocessing modules. In information technology, SPPs are a suitable choice to implement photonic circuits with subwavelength dimensions. Since the beginning years of 21 century, there was a high increase of researches in the field of nanoplasmonics and its applications in communication systems. The most basic plasmon-polariton waveguides are composed by stacks of metal strips and dielectric layers [2]. The SPP mode confinement of these waveguides may be manipulated by introduction of grooves or regular gratings along the metallic slab. Other configurations include periodic arrays of metallic nanoparticles embedded in a dielectric matrix [3]. With these structures, a large variety of optical components has been implemented such as resonators, couplers and interferometers, to name a few. For instance, plasmon ring resonators may be used as building blocks of add-drop filters [4] and silver-air-silver multilayer systems can provide coupling efficiency above 80% with optical fibers [5]. This presentation reports the potentials of SPP waveguides applications in optical communication systems. Some periodic nanostructures are analysed as examples of applicability of these devices in photonic networks. II. FUNDAMENTALS OF SURFACE-PLASMON-POLARITON PROPAGATION Surface-plasmon-polaritons are electromagnetic waves that propagate at the interface between a dielectric and a conductor. The mechanism of SPP generation essentially comprises the coupling of electromagnetic fields to the collective electron plasma oscillation at the conductor surface. Fig. 1 shows the evanescent profile of the field distribution of a SPP wave. Fig. 1 – Field distribution profile of a SPP wave. The Maxwell’s equations are the starting point to investigate SPP propagation conditions. To carry out such analysis, the dispersive character of metals at optical frequencies must be taken into consideration. The dispersion Drude formulation (1) constitutes a simple but powerful modeling within this framework: Nanophotonics in Modern Communication Systems – Feasibility of Plasmon-Polariton Waveguides in Optical Networks Anderson O. Silva 1 , Jorge A. Macedo 2 , Victor Dmitriev 3 , André Lages 4 Faculty of Electrical Engineering – Federal University of Para P.O. 8619, CEP 66075-900, Belem – Para – Brazil 1 aosilva@ufpa.br, 2 jandrey@ufpa.br, 3 victor@ufpa.br, 4 eng.andrelages@gmail.com