Growth and integration of phase change metal-chalcogenide semiconductors into optical fiber and waveguide integrated nanophotonic metamaterial modulators

具有可调参数的光子元件，如可变焦距透镜或可重构光谱滤光器和调制器，提供了许多有用的应用，因此，虽然最初被设想为工程静态电磁特性的范例；超材料概念依赖于自然介质的亚波长纳米结构来创造前所未有的新功能，但已迅速扩展到包括一系列可重构功能。人们探索了不同材料平台固有的各种挥发性重构机制，包括热光效应、非线性以及石墨烯、硅和导电氧化物中的自由载流子调制。相比之下，金属硫化物半导体提供了一种独特的非易失性重新配置机制，称为相变，通过在重新配置机制中引入存储功能(非易失性)，可以大幅降低功耗。拟议项目的目标是通过高通量组合物理气相沉积和将其并入光纤和波导集成的超材料来增长/探索广泛的金属硫化物半导体中相变机制的比例极限，以展示具有内置存储功能的可重新配置的光学调制器，凭借使用超材料的灵活性和金属硫化物的宽传输窗口，能够工作在UV-VIS-IR波段的任何给定波长。调制器中集成了固有的存储器功能，减少了占地面积，并大幅降低了功耗。我们将提供工作阶段和强度信号调制器原型，我们计划将其用作完全特征化的演示，以吸引后续资金。此外，我们将建立艾伯塔省金属硫化物制造设施(AM2F)，该设施将向所有需要金属硫化物和/或其光电设备集成的人开放，这将成为建立后续资金进一步伙伴关系的跳板。

Photonic components with adjustable parameters, such as variable focus lenses or reconfigurable spectral filters and modulators, offer numerous useful applications, so while initially conceived as a paradigm for engineering static electromagnetic properties; metamaterial concepts which rely on subwavelength nanostructuring of natural media to create unprecedented new functionalities have extended rapidly to include a range of reconfigurable functionalities. Various volatile reconfiguration mechanisms inherent to different material platforms have been explored including thermo-optic effects, nonlinearities as well as free-carrier-modulation in graphene, silicon and conductive oxides. In contrast metal-chalcogenide semiconductors, present a unique non-volatile reconfiguration mechanism known as 'phase change' which enables a drastic reduction in power consumption through the introduction of memory functionality (non-volatility) into the reconfiguration mechanism. The objective of the proposed project is growth/exploration of the scaling limit of the phase change mechanism in a wide array of metal-chalcogenide semiconductors through high-throughput combinatorial physical vapour deposition and their incorporation within optical fiber and waveguide-integrated metamaterials for the demonstration of reconfigurable optical modulators with built-in memory functionality, capable of working at any given wavelength in the UV-Vis-IR band by virtue of the flexibility of using metamaterials and the wide transmission window of metal-chalcogenides. The integration of inherent memory functionality into the modulator reduces footprint and drastically lowers power consumption. We will deliver working phase and intensity signal modulator prototypes that we plan to use as fully characterized demonstrators to attract follow-on funding. Furthermore, we will establish the Alberta Metal-chalcogenide Manufacturing Facility (AM2F), which will be open to all in need of metal-chalcogenides and/or their optoelectronic device integration, this will act as a springboard in establishing further partnerships for follow on funding.