All-optical active plasmonic devices with memory and power switching functionalities based on epsilon-near-zero nonlinear metamaterials

TL;DR

This paper proposes a theoretical and numerical study of a nanoscale all-optical plasmonic device using epsilon-near-zero nonlinear metamaterials, capable of memory and power switching functionalities through hysteresis behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a novel active plasmonic device design based on epsilon-near-zero nonlinear metamaterials that exhibits hysteresis, enabling memory and power switching at nanoscale.

Findings

Device shows plasmon-mediated hysteresis at low intensities.

Hysteresis enables the device to function as a memory unit.

Device can switch plasmon power direction at hysteresis jumps.

Abstract

All-optical active plasmonic devices are of fundamental importance for designing efficient nanophotonic circuits. We theoretically propose and numerically investigate an active plasmonic device made up of a nonlinear epsilon-near-zero metamaterial slab of thickness smaller than 100 nanometers lying on a linear epsilon-near-zero metamaterial substrate. We predict that, in free-space coupling configuration, the device, operating at low-intensity, would display plasmon mediated hysteresis behavior since the phase difference between the reflected and the incident optical waves turns out to be multi-valued and dependent on the history of the excitation process. Such an hysteresis behavior would allow to regard the proposed device as a compact memory unit whose state is accessible by measuring either the mentioned phase difference or the power, which is multi-valued as well, carried by the nonlinear plasmon wave. Since multiple plasmon powers comprise both positive and negative values, the device would also operate as a switch of the plasmon power direction at each jump along an hysteresis loop.