Abstract
A tunable infrared optical switch based on a plasmonic structure consisting of aluminum nanoarrays with a thin film of vanadium dioxide is proposed. This optical switch can realize arbitrary wavelength-selective optical switching in the mid-infrared region by altering the radii of the aluminum nanoarrays. Furthermore, since vanadium dioxide transforms from its low-temperature insulator phase to a high-temperature metallic phase when heated or applied voltage, the optical switch can achieve two-way switching of its “ON” and “OFF” modes. Finite-difference time-domain software is used to simulate the performance of the proposed infrared optical switch. Simulation results show that the switch offers excellent optical performances, that the modulation depth can reach up to 99.4%, and that the extinction ratio exceeds −22.16 dB. In addition, the phase transition time of vanadium dioxide is on the femtosecond scale, which means that this optical switch based on a vanadium dioxide thin film can be used for ultrafast switching.
Highlights
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Modern Optics System, Engineering Research Center of Optical Instrument and System, Ministry of Education and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Modern Optical System, School of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Abstract: A tunable infrared optical switch based on a plasmonic structure consisting of aluminum nanoarrays with a thin film of vanadium dioxide is proposed
We present a novel infrared optical switch and propose a modulator that can display both optical switching and modulation characteristics in the mid-infrared band and offers ultra-fast switching
When VO2 is in its insulator phase, we couple the incident light waves to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of the Al nano-disk, which means that the reflectivity of the optical switch is almost zero when it is in the insulator phase
Summary
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Modern Optics System, Engineering Research Center of Optical Instrument and System, Ministry of Education and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Modern Optical System, School of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Abstract: A tunable infrared optical switch based on a plasmonic structure consisting of aluminum nanoarrays with a thin film of vanadium dioxide is proposed. When VO2 is in its insulator phase, we couple the incident light waves to the LSPR of the Al nano-disk, which means that the reflectivity of the optical switch is almost zero when it is in the insulator phase.
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