Fully Programmable Plasmonic PT-Symmetric Dimer with Epsilon Near Zero and Phase-Change Materials for Integrated Photonics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a hybrid plasmonic dimer leveraging ENZ and phase-change materials to achieve highly reconfigurable, energy-efficient, subwavelength photonic devices capable of operating at multiple states and near exceptional points.

Contribution

It presents a novel integrated platform combining ENZ and phase-change materials for programmable, reconfigurable photonic systems with multiple operational states and enhanced sensitivity.

Findings

Achieved at least 16 distinct operational states.

Demonstrated deep subwavelength confinement and tunability.

Enabled transitions between EP and non-EP regimes.

Abstract

As photonic systems progress toward enhanced miniaturization, dynamic reconfigurability, and improved energy efficiency, a central challenge endures: the accurate and independent control of optical losses and resonant properties on scalable, CMOS-compatible platforms. To address this challenge, we present a hybrid plasmonic dimer that functions in a non-Hermitian regime, capitalizing on the synergistic interplay between Epsilon Near Zero (ENZ) materials and phase-change materials (PCMs) to achieve superior reconfigurability through electrical modulation. Our approach harnesses non-Hermitian physics by precisely modulating the loss differential among coupled modes alongside their resonant frequencies, thereby steering the system to an Exceptional Point (EP) characterized by emergent phenomena and enhanced perturbation sensitivity. By integrating ENZ materials to control dissipation with PCMs to fine-tune resonant frequencies, our structure achieves robust programmability, delivering at least 16 distinct operational states for coupled resonators. This capability supports deep subwavelength confinement and transitions between EP and non-EP regimes, while the inherently low power consumption of ENZ materials and PCMs under deep-subwavelength confinement offers significant advantages even in high-dimensional configurations. We believe that this work outlines a significant route for next-generation programmable photonics, delivering subwavelength confinement, energy-efficient operation, and high-dimensional optical reconfigurability within an integrated, scalable, and manufacturable platform.