Ultrawide thermal free-carrier tuning of dielectric antennas coupled to epsilon-near-zero substrates

Prasad P. Iyer, Mihir Pendharkar, Chris J. Palmstrøm and Jon A. Schuller ()
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Prasad P. Iyer: University of California Santa Barbara
Mihir Pendharkar: University of California Santa Barbara
Chris J. Palmstrøm: University of California Santa Barbara
Jon A. Schuller: University of California Santa Barbara

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract The principal challenge for achieving reconfigurable optical antennas and metasurfaces is the need to generate continuous and large tunability of subwavelength, low-Q resonators. We demonstrate continuous and steady-state refractive index tuning at mid-infrared wavelengths using temperature-dependent control over the low-loss plasma frequency in III–V semiconductors. In doped InSb we demonstrate nearly two-fold increase in the electron effective mass leading to a positive refractive index shift (Δn > 1.5) that is an order of magnitude greater than conventional thermo-optic effects. In undoped films we demonstrate more than 10-fold change in the thermal free-carrier concentration producing a near-unity negative refractive index shift. Exploiting both effects within a single resonator system—intrinsic InSb wires on a heavily doped (epsilon-near-zero) InSb substrate—we demonstrate dynamically steady-state tunable Mie resonances. The observed line-width resonance shifts (Δλ > 1.7 μm) suggest new avenues for highly tunable and steady-state mid-infrared semiconductor antennas.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00615-3

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