A Non-Volatile Chalcogenide Switchable Hyperbolic Metamaterial

摘要

Phase change materials have enabled the realization of dynamic nanophotonicrndevices with various functionalities. Reconfigurable hyperbolic metamaterialsrnintegrated with such elements have been demonstrated in the pastrnbut the volatile nature of their optical properties is a limitation, particularlyrnfor applications that require the device to be preserved in a specified state.rnHere, a proof-of-concept demonstration of a non-volatile, switchable hyperbolicrnmetamaterial based on a chalcogenide glass is reported. By using thernGe_2Sb_2Te_5 alloy as one of the components of a multilayered nanocompositernstructure and exploiting its phase change property, a hyperbolic metamaterialrnin which the type-Ⅰ hyperbolic dispersion (ε_⊥ <_0, ε_(‖) > 0) and negativernrefraction can be switched from the near-infrared to the visible region isrndemonstrated. This opens up new opportunities for reconfigurable devicernapplications, such as imaging, optical data storage, and sensing.