Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Abstract
We show that phase-change materials can be used to switch photonic nanostructures between cloaking and superscattering regimes at mid-infrared wavelengths. More specifically, we investigate the scattering properties of subwavelength three-layer cylindrical structures in which the material in the outer shell is the phase-change material Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST). We first show that, when GST is switched between its amorphous and crystalline phases, properly designed electrically small structures can switch between resonant scattering and cloaking invisibility regimes. The contrast ratio between the scattering cross sections of the cloaking invisibility and resonant scattering regimes reaches almost unity.We then also show that larger, moderately small cylindrical structures can be designed to switch between superscattering and cloaking invisibility regimes, when GST is switched between its crystalline and amorphous phases. The contrast ratio between the scattering cross sections of cloaking invisibility and superscattering regimes can be as high as ~ 93%. Our results could be potentially important for developing a new generation of compact reconfigurable optical devices.
Publication Source (Journal or Book title)
Optical Materials Express
Recommended Citation
Huang, Y., Shen, Y., Min, C., & Veronis, G. (2018). Switching photonic nanostructures between cloaking and superscattering regimes using phase-change materials. Optical Materials Express, 8 (6) https://doi.org/10.1364/OME.8.001672