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Title: Chalcogenide phase-change material advances programmable terahertz metamaterials: a non-volatile perspective for reconfigurable intelligent surfaces

Journal Article · · Nanophotonics
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  1. Shandong Univ., Jinan (China)
  2. Shandong Univ., Jinan (China); Univ. of Manchester (United Kingdom)
  3. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Terahertz (THz) waves have gained considerable attention in the rising 6G communication due to their large bandwidth. However, the cost and power consumption become the major constraints for the commercialization of 6G THz systems as the frequency increases. Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) comprising active metasurfaces and digital controllers has been proposed for beamforming in the 6G multiple-input-multiple-output systems, showing good potential to suppress the system size, weight, and power consumption (SWaP). Currently, their controlling diodes can hardly work up to THz frequencies. Therefore, several active stimuli have been investigated as alternatives. Among them, chalcogenide phase-change material Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) addresses large modulation depth, picosecond switching speed, and non-volatile properties. Notably, the non-volatile GST may enable RIS systems with memory and low control power. This work briefly reviews the advances of GST-tuned THz metamaterials (MTMs), discusses the current obstacles to overcome, and gives a perspective of GST applications in the rising 6G communications.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)
Grant/Contract Number:
89233218CNA000001
OSTI ID:
2332798
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-24-20732
Journal Information:
Nanophotonics, Journal Name: Nanophotonics; ISSN 2192-8606
Publisher:
de GruyterCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (9)

A Vision of 6G Wireless Systems: Applications, Trends, Technologies, and Open Research Problems journal May 2020
6G Wireless Communications: Vision and Potential Techniques journal July 2019
A Review on Terahertz Communications Research journal January 2011
An optically driven digital metasurface for programming electromagnetic functions journal March 2020
Phase-change materials for rewriteable data storage journal November 2007
An All-Optical, Non-volatile, Bidirectional, Phase-Change Meta-Switch journal April 2013
Multifunctional Hybrid Metasurfaces for Dynamic Tuning of Terahertz Waves journal May 2018
Chalcogenide Phase Change Material for Active Terahertz Photonics journal January 2019
Volatile and Nonvolatile Switching of Phase Change Material Ge2Sb2Te5 Revealed by Time-Resolved Terahertz Spectroscopy journal January 2022

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Related Subjects

6G
terahertz
Ge2Sb2Te5
non-volatile
reconfigurable intelligent surface