Dynamically controlled plasmonic nano-antenna phased array utilizing vanadium dioxide

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical design for a tunable optical phased-array antenna using VO2, enabling electronic beam steering in the near-IR range through thermal control of the phase response.

Contribution

It introduces a novel VO2-based nano-antenna array with thermal tuning for dynamic beam steering in optical applications.

Findings

Beam steering up to 10 degrees achieved with less than 10°C temperature gradient.

The device utilizes a 1D array of slot nano-antennas in gold over VO2.

Thermal gradient effectively modulates the phase response of the array.

Abstract

We propose and analyze theoretically an approach for realizing a tunable optical phased-array antenna utilizing the properties of VO2 for electronic beam steering applications in the near-IR spectral range. The device is based on a 1D array of slot nano-antennas engraved in a thin Au film grown over VO2 layer. The tuning is obtained by inducing a temperature gradient over the device, which changes the refractive index of the VO2, and hence modifies the phase response of the elements comprising the array, by producing a thermal gradient within the underlying PCM layer. Using a 10-element array, we show that an incident beam can be steered up to with respect to the normal, by applying a gradient of less than 10{\deg}C.