Chalcogenide plasmonic metamaterial switches

The material technology behind rewritable optical disks and the latest generation of electronic memory offers a new broadband switching paradigm for metamaterials. Non-volatile, electrically- or optically-addressed switching devices for visible to mid-infrared wavelengths can be created by hybridizing planar metamaterials with functional chalcogenide glass. We demonstrate experimentally that converting this phase-change medium between amorphous and crystalline states brings about significant changes in the resonant optical properties (transmission, reflection and absorption) of hybrid metamaterials based on metallic nanostructures supporting plasmonic dark-mode resonances. The transition between amorphous and crystalline forms brings about a substantial shift (>10%) in the resonance wavelength of the hybrid structure, providing transmission and reflection modulation functionality with contrast ratios of up to 4:1 in a device of sub-wavelength thickness