Electrically programmable photonic crystal slab based on the metal-insulator transition in VO2

Abstract

The possibility of an electrically programmable photonic crystal is investigated theoretically based on the metal-insulator transition of vanadium dioxide (VO2). Recent experiments indicate that this phase transition of the first order can be controlled via external bias and results in significant changes in the electrical and optical properties of VO2. We propose a slab structure based on VO2 whose dielectric properties are modulated periodically in the in-plane direction by selectively inducing phase transition through a lithographically defined array of gate electrodes. A two-dimensional photonic band calculation predicts the presence of a band gap, clearly illustrating the feasibility of the proposed structure. The electrically controlled nature may enable the VO2- based structure to be programmable at a very high speed.