Electrically tunable infrared metamaterial devices
US9086510B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 3, 2013 |
| Grant date | Jul 21, 2015 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 9, 2034 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02E10/544
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A wavelength-tunable, depletion-type infrared metamaterial optical device is provided. The device includes a thin, highly doped epilayer whose electrical permittivity can become negative at some infrared wavelengths. This highly-doped buried layer optically couples with a metamaterial layer. Changes in the transmission spectrum of the device can be induced via the electrical control of this optical coupling. An embodiment includes a contact layer of semiconductor material that is sufficiently doped for operation as a contact layer and that is effectively transparent to an operating range of infrared wavelengths, a thin, highly doped buried layer of epitaxially grown semiconductor material that overlies the contact layer, and a metallized layer overlying the buried layer and patterned as a resonant metamaterial.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.