Electrical tuning of an optical antenna (Conference Presentation)

Mark L. Brongersma

doi:10.1117/12.2260477

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28 April 2017 Electrical tuning of an optical antenna (Conference Presentation)

Mark L. Brongersma

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Proceedings Volume 10112, Photonic and Phononic Properties of Engineered Nanostructures VII; 1011218 (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2260477
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2017, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

The scaling of active photonic devices to deep-submicron length-scales has been hampered by the fundamental law of diffraction and the absence of materials with sufficiently strong electrooptic effects. Here, we demonstrate a solid state electro-optical switching mechanism that can operate in the visible spectral range with an active volume that is well below the free-space diffraction limit and comparable to the size of the smallest active electronic components. . The switching mechanism relies on electrochemically displacing atoms inside the nanometer-scale gap between two crossed metallic wires forming a crosspoint junction. Such junctions afford extreme light concentration and display singular optical behavior upon formation of a conductive channel. We illustrate how this effect can be used to actively tune the resonances of a plasmonic antenna. The tuning mechanism is analyzed using a combination of electrical and optical measurements as well as electron energy loss (EELS) in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM).

Conference Presentation

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Mark L. Brongersma "Electrical tuning of an optical antenna (Conference Presentation)", Proc. SPIE 10112, Photonic and Phononic Properties of Engineered Nanostructures VII, 1011218 (28 April 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2260477

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