Programmable plasmonic phase modulation of free-space wavefronts at gigahertz rates
Programmable plasmonic phase modulation of free-space wavefronts at gigahertz rates
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DOI：
10.1038/s41566-019-0360-3
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发表时间：
2019-06
期刊：
影响因子：
35
通讯作者：
A. Smolyaninov;A. El Amili;F. Vallini;S. Pappert;Y. Fainman
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
A. Smolyaninov;A. El Amili;F. Vallini;S. Pappert;Y. Fainman
光学波前的空间可变控制在光子学中的许多应用中都很重要，例如产生结构光束，它是通过空间光调制器来实现的。目前，商业设备基于液晶和数字微镜技术，通常限制在千赫的开关速度。要实现显著更高的运行速度，新的技术和方法是必要的。在这里，我们展示了利用基于表面等离子体与具有电光响应的材料之间的近场相互作用的可编程等离子体位相调制器，在1 GHz的调制速度下，对波长为1 550 nm的自由空间光场进行二维控制。在表面等离子体共振结构中，采用高χ(2)和χ(3)的氮化铝或富硅氮化硅介质薄膜作为有源调制层，实现了4 × 4像素阵列光波前的可编程空间变化控制。
Space-variant control of optical wavefronts is important for many applications in photonics, such as the generation of structured light beams, and is achieved with spatial light modulators. Commercial devices, at present, are based on liquid-crystal and digital micromirror technologies and are typically limited to kilohertz switching speeds. To realize significantly higher operating speeds, new technologies and approaches are necessary. Here we demonstrate two-dimensional control of free-space optical fields at a wavelength of 1,550 nm at a 1 GHz modulation speed using a programmable plasmonic phase modulator based on near-field interactions between surface plasmons and materials with an electrooptic response. Highχ(2)andχ(3)dielectric thin films of either aluminium nitride or silicon-rich silicon nitride are used as an active modulation layer in a surface plasmon resonance configuration to realize programmable space-variant control of optical wavefronts in a 4 × 4 pixel array at high speed.