The applications of adaptive optics extend across multiple sectors, encompassing areas such as LiDAR, biological and chemical sensing, and free-space communications. In this study, we report on the design, fabrication, testing, and modeling of electrically reconfigurable metasurfaces using a low-loss high contrast phase change material, Ge2Sb2Se4Te integrated with an IR-transparent silicon microheater. Through this work, we introduce a reliable architecture for switching PCM-based metasurfaces within an integrated circuit configuration and the capability of controlling the transmission of electromagnetic waves through the precise stimulation of PCM-based pixels, each spanning a few hundred microns, over numerous cycles. By leveraging PCM-based pixels, we unlock the potential to create metasurfaces encompassing a diverse range of functionalities such as dielectric filters, metalens, or beam steering devices, which is governed by the design of the meta-atoms.
Phase change material (PCM)-based actively tunable mid-wave IR filters have broad imaging and sensing applications—from probing molecular vibrations in chemical species to detecting radiant thermal signatures. We introduce the Phase-change actively tunable filter (P-ACTIVE) project lead by NASA Langley Research Center with collaborators MIT and the University of Cambridge. It covers background science, experimental and theoretical device performance, as well as recent results obtained from a MISSE-14 mission for space qualification of active metasurface optics and constituent PCM. We conclude with a prospective view of the technology and discuss the potential for these filters to serve multiple NASA missions.
Optical metasurfaces are planar subwavelength nanoantenna arrays engineered to provide on-demand manipulation of light, thereby enabling ultra-compact flat optics with high performance, small form-factor and new functionalities. When integrated with active elements, the pixelated, thin device architecture further facilitates dynamic tuning of local and global optical responses. Leveraging advanced materials, designs and architectures, we develop novel active and passive meta-optics capable of transforming a variety of optical systems that are traditionally bulky and complicated.
We report the design, fabrication, and testing of electrically tunable metasurface k-space filters based on the phase-change material GSST and a transparent Si electrode heating architecture. A 10x10 array of PCM elements and Si heaters was fabricated via the foundry processes, and used to control the crystallinity of a metasurface consisting of GSST nano antennae. By selectively crystallizing individual elements, specific k-vectors of transmitted light can effectively be filtered out, resulting in improved imaging quality by reducing the scattered light that reaches the detector. Optimized doping profiles in the Si heaters allow for uniform, low power switching of the GSST state.
Chalcogenide phase change materials (PCMs) are a unique class of compounds whose switchable optical and electronic properties have fueled an explosion of emerging applications in microelectronics and microphotonics. The key to any application is the ability of PCMs to reliably switch between crystalline and amorphous states over a large number of cycles. While this issue has been extensively studied in the case of microelectronic memories, current PCM-based optical devices suffer from much inferior endurance. To understand the failure mechanisms limiting endurance of PCMs specifically in microphotonic devices, we have developed an on-chip resistive micro-heater platform and an automatic multi-modal characterization system to analyze cycling performance of optical PCMs. Reversible switching of large-area PCM devices over 50,000 cycles was demonstrated.
We report the results of the effect of prolonged low-Earth orbit exposure on phase-change materials (PCMs) and PCM-based metasurfaces. During a 6-month exposure as part of the Materials on the International Space Station Experiment (MISSE-14) test campaign led by NASA Langley Research Center, Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) and GST-based metasurface spectral filters were monitored for their response to extreme temperature cycles, UV and ionizing radiation fluences, and atomic oxygen fluences. Upon return to Earth, the samples were characterized and compared to their pre-flight condition to glean insight into the effects of the space environment on metasurface performance and PCM optical and structural properties.
In this work, we introduce actively tunable PCM-FP (Fabry-Perot) and PCM-PNA (Plasmonic Nanohole Array) bandpass filters that possess high-speed tunability (MHz), narrow spectral bandwidth, high-transmissivity, broad tuning range, in an all solid-state design in a wide variety of imaging and spectroscopic applications. We also present the results from a Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE-14) in which chalcogenide phase change material (PCM) optical components are exposed and tested in Low Earth Orbit to determine their suitability for space applications. Our samples including Ge2Sb2Te5, Ge2Sb2Se4Te1, Sb2S3 thin-films and PCM-FP were delivered aboard the ISS by Northrop Grumman (NG-15) in Feb. 2021 for 6 months of exposure testing, including: temperature, vacuum, atomic oxygen, UV exposure and solar illumination effects. Our MISSE-14 PCM study will provide valuable information on the limitations and suitability of PCMs in harsh space environments.
The mid-wave infrared (MWIR) waveband (3-5 µm) contains numerous invaluable spectral /thermal signatures. Tunable MWIR filters are thus highly desirable in a variety of imaging and spectroscopic applications. We introduce phase-change tunable filters (PCTFs) which enable actively tunable spectral filtering across the MWIR waveband from a single solid-state element. This is achieved through the integration of the chalcogenide phase-change material GeSbTe (GST) into a plasmonic nanohole metasurface. We demonstrate polarization-insensitive PCTFs with >70% transmittance, 60nm bandwidth, and high-speed switching (MHz-GHz) across the MWIR waveband using a nanosecond laser pulse. We further show PCTF-based multispectral thermal imaging and dynamic gas sensing.
An optical metrology laboratory has been developed to characterize the optical properties of optical window materials to be used for aerospace applications. Several optical measurement systems have been selected and developed to measure spectral transmittance, haze, clarity, birefringence, striae, wavefront quality, and wedge. In addition to silica based glasses, several optical lightweight polymer materials and transparent ceramics have been investigated in the laboratory. The measurement systems and selected empirical results for non-silica materials are described. These measurements will be used to form the basis of acceptance criteria for selection of window materials for future aerospace vehicle and habitat designs.
This paper describes particle image velocimetry measurements obtained in a Mach 6 flow field. The measurements were performed in the Langley Mach 6 High Reynolds Number Tunnel facility. A wedge model oriented at an angle-of-attack of -15 degree(s) was used to generate an oblique 22.7 degree(s) bow shock. Using 1.0-micrometer aluminum oxide powder as the seed material, PIV photographs in the vicinity of the bow shock region were taken on the centerline of the model at a location 110 mm from the leading edge. Using the two- dimensional velocity fields obtained from analysis of the photographs, normal and tangential components of velocity with respect to the shock angle were obtained. These velocity components were then used to infer the aerodynamic particle sizes present in the tunnel. Results indicated that the 1.0 micrometer seed material introduced into the tunnel had an aerodynamic size of approximately 1.0 - 2.0 micrometers. Differences were noted between the measured and predicted normal component of velocity downstream of the shock after full particle relaxation had occurred. Using qualitative flow visualization, it was determined that due to cavity flow along the test section walls, reflected shocks in the vicinity of the PIV measurements could account for these differences.
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