Controllable light beam diverter based on phase-change material

Abstract

The invention discloses a controllable light beam diverter based on a phase-change material. The controllable light beam diverter comprises a transversely arranged lower electrode and a longitudinallyarranged upper electrode, wherein a phase change material layer is arranged in the crossed area of the upper electrode and the lower electrode, and a sandwich structure is formed up and down. The light beam enters from the bottom surface, passes through the device and then is output from the surface, and the deflection angle of the output transmission light beam is controlled by controlling the state of the phase-change material. Electric pulses are applied to a phase-change unit by utilizing the upper electrode and the lower electrode of the phase-change material, the electric pulses generate joule heat through the phase-change material to enable the temperature of a phase-change area to rise, and conversion of the phase-change material in a crystalline state or an amorphous state or a mixed state is achieved, so that the output phase of transmission light is changed, and the light beam steering function is achieved. The two-dimensional phase-change array can be flexibly programmed to obtain any output phase distribution, so that the deflection angle of the light beam can be flexibly adjusted. The phase-change material only consumes energy during state switching, so that the device has no static power consumption.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention is a controllable light beam steering device based on phase-change materials, which belongs to the field of integrated optoelectronics. Background technique [0002] With the development of integrated optoelectronic technology, various optoelectronic devices have been extensively studied. Among them, an important technology is the ability to effectively manipulate light beams. Especially in the fields of space optical communication, holographic image generation, and lidar technology, there is an urgent need for miniaturized, high-resolution beam steering technology. For the field of integrated optoelectronics, there are many challenges in realizing the dynamic control of the characteristic parameters of light at the micro-nano scale. [0003] Traditional beam steering structures are mainly divided into two categories: mechanical and non-mechanical. The beam steering structure based on MEMS technology is a typical representative of the m...

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Problems solved by technology

However, the phase-change material layer of the device has a large area, and it is difficult to achieve a large-area uniform phase change by laser irradiation; in addition, the surface uses an aluminum strip antenna, and the device is sensitive to polarization, and due to excessive phase-change material amorphization The temperature may cause the aluminum to melt

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