The applications of adaptive optics extend across multiple sectors, encompassing areas such as LiDAR, biological and chemical sensing, and free-space communications. In this study, we report on the design, fabrication, testing, and modeling of electrically reconfigurable metasurfaces using a low-loss high contrast phase change material, Ge2Sb2Se4Te integrated with an IR-transparent silicon microheater. Through this work, we introduce a reliable architecture for switching PCM-based metasurfaces within an integrated circuit configuration and the capability of controlling the transmission of electromagnetic waves through the precise stimulation of PCM-based pixels, each spanning a few hundred microns, over numerous cycles. By leveraging PCM-based pixels, we unlock the potential to create metasurfaces encompassing a diverse range of functionalities such as dielectric filters, metalens, or beam steering devices, which is governed by the design of the meta-atoms.
Phase change materials (PCMs) are commonly used in rewritable optical disks and memory devices. Recently, there have been efforts to incorporate PCMs into optical components and photonic circuits for developing reconfigurable optics, which necessitates the use of larger-scale PCMs. However, enlarging PCM-based devices has proven challenging due to difficulties in the switching mechanism, which demands significant thermal energy density. In this study, through computational models and experimental observations, we explore the effective parameters in phase transformation of Ge2Sb2Te5 and Ge2Sb2Se4Te, with areal length scale on the order of tens of micrometers. Our findings offer insight regarding the development of next-generation adaptive optics such as filters, zoom lenses, and beam steering devices.
Optical metasurfaces are planar subwavelength nanoantenna arrays engineered to provide on-demand manipulation of light, thereby enabling ultra-compact flat optics with high performance, small form-factor and new functionalities. When integrated with active elements, the pixelated, thin device architecture further facilitates dynamic tuning of local and global optical responses. Leveraging advanced materials, designs and architectures, we develop novel active and passive meta-optics capable of transforming a variety of optical systems that are traditionally bulky and complicated.
We report the design, fabrication, and testing of electrically tunable metasurface k-space filters based on the phase-change material GSST and a transparent Si electrode heating architecture. A 10x10 array of PCM elements and Si heaters was fabricated via the foundry processes, and used to control the crystallinity of a metasurface consisting of GSST nano antennae. By selectively crystallizing individual elements, specific k-vectors of transmitted light can effectively be filtered out, resulting in improved imaging quality by reducing the scattered light that reaches the detector. Optimized doping profiles in the Si heaters allow for uniform, low power switching of the GSST state.
Chalcogenide phase change materials (PCMs) are a unique class of compounds whose switchable optical and electronic properties have fueled an explosion of emerging applications in microelectronics and microphotonics. The key to any application is the ability of PCMs to reliably switch between crystalline and amorphous states over a large number of cycles. While this issue has been extensively studied in the case of microelectronic memories, current PCM-based optical devices suffer from much inferior endurance. To understand the failure mechanisms limiting endurance of PCMs specifically in microphotonic devices, we have developed an on-chip resistive micro-heater platform and an automatic multi-modal characterization system to analyze cycling performance of optical PCMs. Reversible switching of large-area PCM devices over 50,000 cycles was demonstrated.
We report the results of the effect of prolonged low-Earth orbit exposure on phase-change materials (PCMs) and PCM-based metasurfaces. During a 6-month exposure as part of the Materials on the International Space Station Experiment (MISSE-14) test campaign led by NASA Langley Research Center, Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) and GST-based metasurface spectral filters were monitored for their response to extreme temperature cycles, UV and ionizing radiation fluences, and atomic oxygen fluences. Upon return to Earth, the samples were characterized and compared to their pre-flight condition to glean insight into the effects of the space environment on metasurface performance and PCM optical and structural properties.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.