Thermal tuning of infrared resonant absorbers based on hybrid gold-VO{sub 2} nanostructures

Journal Article · Mon Apr 20 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4918938· OSTI ID:22398917

Kocer, Hasan ^[1]; Butun, Serkan; Aydin, Koray ^[1]; Banar, Berker ^[1]; Wang, Kevin; Wu, Junqiao ^[2]; Tongay, Sefaatttin ^[3]

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1. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208 (United States)
2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)
3. School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287 (United States)

Resonant absorbers based on plasmonic materials, metamaterials, and thin films enable spectrally selective absorption filters, where absorption is maximized at the resonance wavelength. By controlling the geometrical parameters of nano/microstructures and materials' refractive indices, resonant absorbers are designed to operate at wide range of wavelengths for applications including absorption filters, thermal emitters, thermophotovoltaic devices, and sensors. However, once resonant absorbers are fabricated, it is rather challenging to control and tune the spectral absorption response. Here, we propose and demonstrate thermally tunable infrared resonant absorbers using hybrid gold-vanadium dioxide (VO{sub 2}) nanostructure arrays. Absorption intensity is tuned from 90% to 20% and 96% to 32% using hybrid gold-VO{sub 2} nanowire and nanodisc arrays, respectively, by heating up the absorbers above the phase transition temperature of VO{sub 2} (68 °C). Phase change materials such as VO{sub 2} deliver useful means of altering optical properties as a function of temperature. Absorbers with tunable spectral response can find applications in sensor and detector applications, in which external stimulus such as heat, electrical signal, or light results in a change in the absorption spectrum and intensity.

• OSTI ID: 22398917
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 16; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ABSORPTION
ABSORPTION SPECTRA
FILTERS
GOLD
HEAT
METAMATERIALS
MICROSTRUCTURE
NANOSTRUCTURES
PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
REFRACTIVE INDEX
SENSORS
SPECTRAL RESPONSE
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
THIN FILMS
TRANSITION TEMPERATURE
VANADIUM OXIDES
VISIBLE RADIATION