Photonic crystals and devices having tunability and switchability
First Claim
1. A photonic crystal including units of a macroscopic dielectric medium periodically arranged within a surrounding dielectric medium, said photonic crystal comprising a phase change material, said phase change material having a plurality of structural states, said structural states including an amorphous state and a crystalline state, said phase change material being reversibly transformable among said structural states upon the providing of energy.
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Abstract
A photonic crystal having reversibly tunable photonic properties. The photonic crystal includes a phase change material having a plurality of structural states that vary with respect to fractional crystallinity. Optical constants including refractive index, extinction coefficient and permittivity vary as the fractional crystallinity of the phase change material is varied thereby providing tunability of photonic crystal properties. Variations among the structural states of the phase change material are reversibly effected through the addition of energy in forms including optical or electrical energy. The photonic crystals may include defects that provide photonic states within the photonic band gap. The position of these states is tunable through the control of the fractional crystallinity of the phase change material included in the photonic crystal. Electromagnetic radiation resonators including photonic crystals having photonic states in the photonic band gap are further provided. These resonators may be used for frequency selective filtering or routing of electromagnetic radiation and permit tunable variation in the frequency and decay rates of resonant modes through control of the structural state of the phase change material. These resonators are further coupled to waveguides to provide tunable channel drop filters and narrowband reflectors.
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Citations
51 Claims
- 1. A photonic crystal including units of a macroscopic dielectric medium periodically arranged within a surrounding dielectric medium, said photonic crystal comprising a phase change material, said phase change material having a plurality of structural states, said structural states including an amorphous state and a crystalline state, said phase change material being reversibly transformable among said structural states upon the providing of energy.
Specification