Deep Optical Switching on Subpicosecond Timescales in an Amorphous Ge Metamaterial
Abstract
Abstract Active nanostructured optical components show promise as potential building blocks for novel light‐based computing and data processing architectures. However, nanoscale all‐optical switches that have low activation powers and high‐contrast ultrafast switching have been elusive so far. Here, pump–probe measurements performed on amorphous‐Ge‐based micro‐resonator metasurfaces that exhibit strong resonant modes in the mid‐infrared are reported. Relative change is observed in transmittance of Δ T / T ≈ 1 with picosecond (down to τ ≈ 0.5 ps) free carrier relaxation rates, obtained with very low pump fluences of 50 μJ cm −2 . These observations are attributed to efficient free carrier promotion, affecting light transmittance via high quality‐factor optical resonances, followed by an increased electron–phonon scattering of free carriers due to the amorphous crystal structure of Ge. Full‐wave simulations based on a permittivity model that describes free‐carrier damping through crystal structure disorder find excellent agreement with the experimental data. These findings offer an efficient and robust platform for all‐optical switching at the nanoscale.
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Emory Univ., Atlanta, GA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE; US Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research (ONR); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1865280
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1785814
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0020101; N00014-21-1-2056; NNCI-1542081; DMR-1719875; FG02-12ER16347; CHE-1726536; DE‐FG02‐12ER16347; DE‐SC0020101
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Advanced Optical Materials
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 9; Journal Issue: 15; Journal ID: ISSN 2195-1071
- Publisher:
- Wiley
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; metamaterials; ultrafast optics; all-optical switching; amorphous germanium; high-q optical resonances; metasurfaces; pump–probe measurements; ultrafast processes
Citation Formats
Lemasters, Robert, Shcherbakov, Maxim R., Yang, Guoce, Song, Jia, Lian, Tianquan, Harutyunyan, Hayk, and Shvets, Gennady. Deep Optical Switching on Subpicosecond Timescales in an Amorphous Ge Metamaterial. United States: N. p., 2021.
Web. doi:10.1002/adom.202100240.
Lemasters, Robert, Shcherbakov, Maxim R., Yang, Guoce, Song, Jia, Lian, Tianquan, Harutyunyan, Hayk, & Shvets, Gennady. Deep Optical Switching on Subpicosecond Timescales in an Amorphous Ge Metamaterial. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202100240
Lemasters, Robert, Shcherbakov, Maxim R., Yang, Guoce, Song, Jia, Lian, Tianquan, Harutyunyan, Hayk, and Shvets, Gennady. Tue .
"Deep Optical Switching on Subpicosecond Timescales in an Amorphous Ge Metamaterial". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202100240. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1865280.
@article{osti_1865280,
title = {Deep Optical Switching on Subpicosecond Timescales in an Amorphous Ge Metamaterial},
author = {Lemasters, Robert and Shcherbakov, Maxim R. and Yang, Guoce and Song, Jia and Lian, Tianquan and Harutyunyan, Hayk and Shvets, Gennady},
abstractNote = {Abstract Active nanostructured optical components show promise as potential building blocks for novel light‐based computing and data processing architectures. However, nanoscale all‐optical switches that have low activation powers and high‐contrast ultrafast switching have been elusive so far. Here, pump–probe measurements performed on amorphous‐Ge‐based micro‐resonator metasurfaces that exhibit strong resonant modes in the mid‐infrared are reported. Relative change is observed in transmittance of Δ T / T ≈ 1 with picosecond (down to τ ≈ 0.5 ps) free carrier relaxation rates, obtained with very low pump fluences of 50 μJ cm −2 . These observations are attributed to efficient free carrier promotion, affecting light transmittance via high quality‐factor optical resonances, followed by an increased electron–phonon scattering of free carriers due to the amorphous crystal structure of Ge. Full‐wave simulations based on a permittivity model that describes free‐carrier damping through crystal structure disorder find excellent agreement with the experimental data. These findings offer an efficient and robust platform for all‐optical switching at the nanoscale.},
doi = {10.1002/adom.202100240},
journal = {Advanced Optical Materials},
number = 15,
volume = 9,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue May 11 00:00:00 EDT 2021},
month = {Tue May 11 00:00:00 EDT 2021}
}
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