Tunable surface plasmon devices
US8009356B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 12, 2008 |
| Grant date | Aug 30, 2011 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 13, 2030 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B5/008
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A tunable extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) device wherein the tunability derives from controlled variation of the dielectric constant of a semiconducting material (semiconductor) in evanescent-field contact with a metallic array of sub-wavelength apertures. The surface plasmon resonance wavelength can be changed by changing the dielectric constant of the dielectric material. In embodiments of this invention, the dielectric material is a semiconducting material. The dielectric constant of the semiconducting material in the metal/semiconductor interfacial region is controllably adjusted by adjusting one or more of the semiconductor plasma frequency, the concentration and effective mass of free carriers, and the background high-frequency dielectric constant in the interfacial region. Thermal heating and/or voltage-gated carrier-concentration changes may be used to variably adjust the value of the semiconductor dielectric constant.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.