April 24, 2024 | Helena C. Weigand, Ülle-Linda Talts, Anna-Lydia Vieli, Viola V. Vogler-Neuling, Alfonso Nardi, and Rachel Grange
This study presents a novel electro-optic metasurface based on sol-gel-derived barium titanate (BTO) fabricated using a bottom-up soft-nanoimprint lithography process. The metasurface exhibits strong hybrid Mie/surface lattice resonances, achieving a quality factor of 200 at 633 nm, which enhances light-matter interaction and the Pockels effect. The metasurface is electro-optically modulated with up to 5 MHz driving frequency at low voltages (<1 V), thanks to resonant enhancement of the modulation amplitude by two orders of magnitude. This demonstrates the potential for low-cost, large-scale free-space modulators or tunable metalenses.
Barium titanate, a perovskite with high dielectric permittivity and favorable optical properties, has been extensively studied for its high electro-optic coefficient. However, its availability in thin-film form is limited due to costly growth processes or low thickness. The sol-gel-derived BTO used in this study has a large electro-optic coefficient similar to bulk lithium niobate, making it suitable for electro-optic applications. The metasurface is fabricated on a fused quartz substrate with a transparent ITO layer and a SiOx buffer layer, followed by nanoimprint and planarization steps.
The metasurface unit cells consist of cylindrical pillars, with their radius and periodicity influencing the resonance position. The structures are fabricated with high filling fractions, resulting in low porosity and high-quality nanoscale photonic applications. The metasurface is tested in transmission measurements using a supercontinuum laser, revealing strong transmission dips near 632 nm with a high Q-factor of 200. The electro-optic effect is investigated by probing the resonance at the steepest slope of the metasurface resonance and observing a change in transmission upon application of a voltage.
The results show a linear dependence of optical modulation amplitude on driving voltage, confirming the Pockels effect as the main driver of the modulation. The modulation frequency is limited by the device's equivalent electrical circuit rather than the Pockels effect in BTO, which can go up to hundreds of GHz. The metasurface demonstrates a 600-fold increase in modulation compared to a flat BTO sol-gel film, highlighting the importance of enhanced light-matter interaction and overlap engineering of optical and electrical field distributions. The position of the resonance can be tuned over a broad visible to near-infrared range, maintaining high Q-factors of 200. This work provides a foundation for low-cost and large-scale fabrication of tunable planar modulators or flat optics based on polycrystalline BTO.This study presents a novel electro-optic metasurface based on sol-gel-derived barium titanate (BTO) fabricated using a bottom-up soft-nanoimprint lithography process. The metasurface exhibits strong hybrid Mie/surface lattice resonances, achieving a quality factor of 200 at 633 nm, which enhances light-matter interaction and the Pockels effect. The metasurface is electro-optically modulated with up to 5 MHz driving frequency at low voltages (<1 V), thanks to resonant enhancement of the modulation amplitude by two orders of magnitude. This demonstrates the potential for low-cost, large-scale free-space modulators or tunable metalenses.
Barium titanate, a perovskite with high dielectric permittivity and favorable optical properties, has been extensively studied for its high electro-optic coefficient. However, its availability in thin-film form is limited due to costly growth processes or low thickness. The sol-gel-derived BTO used in this study has a large electro-optic coefficient similar to bulk lithium niobate, making it suitable for electro-optic applications. The metasurface is fabricated on a fused quartz substrate with a transparent ITO layer and a SiOx buffer layer, followed by nanoimprint and planarization steps.
The metasurface unit cells consist of cylindrical pillars, with their radius and periodicity influencing the resonance position. The structures are fabricated with high filling fractions, resulting in low porosity and high-quality nanoscale photonic applications. The metasurface is tested in transmission measurements using a supercontinuum laser, revealing strong transmission dips near 632 nm with a high Q-factor of 200. The electro-optic effect is investigated by probing the resonance at the steepest slope of the metasurface resonance and observing a change in transmission upon application of a voltage.
The results show a linear dependence of optical modulation amplitude on driving voltage, confirming the Pockels effect as the main driver of the modulation. The modulation frequency is limited by the device's equivalent electrical circuit rather than the Pockels effect in BTO, which can go up to hundreds of GHz. The metasurface demonstrates a 600-fold increase in modulation compared to a flat BTO sol-gel film, highlighting the importance of enhanced light-matter interaction and overlap engineering of optical and electrical field distributions. The position of the resonance can be tuned over a broad visible to near-infrared range, maintaining high Q-factors of 200. This work provides a foundation for low-cost and large-scale fabrication of tunable planar modulators or flat optics based on polycrystalline BTO.