Reconfigurable image processing metasurfaces with phase-change materials

Michele Cotrufo (), Shaban B. Sulejman, Lukas Wesemann, Md. Ataur Rahman, Madhu Bhaskaran, Ann Roberts and Andrea Alù ()
Additional contact information
Michele Cotrufo: City University of New York
Shaban B. Sulejman: The University of Melbourne
Lukas Wesemann: The University of Melbourne
Md. Ataur Rahman: RMIT University
Madhu Bhaskaran: RMIT University
Ann Roberts: The University of Melbourne
Andrea Alù: City University of New York

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Optical metasurfaces have enabled analog computing and image processing within sub-wavelength footprints, and with reduced power consumption and faster speeds. While various image processing metasurfaces have been demonstrated, most of the considered devices are static and lack reconfigurability. Yet, the ability to dynamically reconfigure processing operations is key for metasurfaces to be used within practical computing systems. Here, we demonstrate a passive edge-detection metasurface operating in the near-infrared regime whose response can be drastically modified by temperature variations smaller than 10 °C around a CMOS-compatible temperature of 65 °C. Such reconfigurability is achieved by leveraging the insulator-to-metal phase transition of a thin layer of vanadium dioxide, which strongly alters the metasurface nonlocal response. Importantly, this reconfigurability is accompanied by performance metrics—such as numerical aperture, efficiency, isotropy, and polarization-independence – close to optimal, and it is combined with a simple geometry compatible with large-scale manufacturing. Our work paves the way to a new generation of ultra-compact, tunable and passive devices for all-optical computation, with potential applications in augmented reality, remote sensing and bio-medical imaging.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-48783-3 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-48783-3

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48783-3

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().