VO₂ based dynamic tunable absorber and its application in switchable control and real-time color display in the visible region

Abstract

Metasurface-based near perfect absorbers exhibit a wide range of potential applications in the fields of solar energy harvesting, thermal images and sensors due to their unique absorption regulation function. However, absorption characteristics of devices are locked by the device structure, leading to the limitation in real-time dynamic applications. In this work, we integrate the phase change material VO2 thin film into the metal-insulator-metal structured metasurface based absorber, and design a fully visible band switchable dynamically tunable absorber (DTA). By controlling the phase transition of VO2, the DTA can realize a novel switch function in the full band of visible light (400 ∼ 780 nm), with absorption contrast ranges from 42% to 60%. Furthermore, via accurate structural parameter control, the vivid cyan, magenta, and yellow pixels based on the VO2 DTA are designed and proposed in the real-time optical anti-counterfeiting, exhibiting outstanding characteristics of anti-glare interference and real-time encryption ability. The absorption spectrum and local electric field are simulated and analyzed to study the internal operation mechanism of DTA. The dynamic absorption adjustable function is attributed to the synergistic effect of insulator-metal transition of VO2 and Fabry–Pérot resonance of absorber.

Tunable Metasurfaces: The Path to Fully Active Nanophotonics

“…Despite having a fairly low modulation of optical properties in the visible regime, researchers have succeeded in utilizing VO 2 to realize structural color by combining an active VO 2 layer into plasmonic metasurfaces. [ 80,81 ] Using silver (Ag) nanostructures on top of a SiO 2 layer with a functional VO 2 layer below, switchable colors particularly from green to yellow have been demonstrated (Figure 2e). [ 82 ] Over the IMT, the sudden change in optical properties of the VO 2 layer affects the location of the LSPR.…”

Stimuli-Responsive Phase Change Materials: Optical and Optoelectronic Applications

“…Another proposed structure is the one recently reported by He et al: a 5 nm thick silver periodic porous layer on the top, a 50 nm thick VO 2 layer in the middle and a 200 nm thick silver layer at the bottom [ 46 ].…”

Electrically Switchable, Polarization-Sensitive Encryption Based on Aluminum Nanoaperture Arrays Integrated with Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystals

“…Some efforts have been made to overcome this limit including polarization-sensitive nanostructures, [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] and stimuli-responsive composite systems. [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] These reported works always manifest complementary dual-images or embedded information in another form. 15,19,20,24 Anisotropic nanostructures play a key role in realizing the abovementioned functions.…”

“…Along this line, advanced optical encryption and identification techniques, such as metasurface-based holographic images and structural colorations, have been extensively studied to overcome the limitations of traditional anticounterfeiting approaches. − Metasurfaces provide an unprecedented platform to manipulate the light field either spatially or temporally, including amplitude, phase, polarization, wavelength, etc. − Metasurface-enabled structural coloration, originating from light interaction with nanostructures, can revive the minutia with high accuracy. − However, this technique is often limited to a static single channel, which is controlled by the opto-geometrical parameters of both the meta-atoms and the surrounding media. Some efforts have been made to overcome this limit including polarization-sensitive nanostructures − and stimuli-responsive composite systems. − These reported works always manifest complementary dual-images or embedded information in another form. ,,, Anisotropic nanostructures play a key role in realizing the above-mentioned functions. However, anisotropic nanoapertures and nanoantennas usually produce significant differences in coloration.…”