Search for: All records

We report a novel four-port optical router that exploits non-linear properties of vanadium dioxide (VO₂) phase-change material to achieve asymmetrical power threshold response with power limiting capability. The scope of this study lies within the concept, modeling, and simulation of the device, with practical considerations in mind for future experimental devices. The waveguide structure, designed to operate at the wavelength of 5.0 µm, is composed of a silicon core with air and silicon dioxide forming the cladding layers. Two ring resonators are employed to couple two straight waveguides, thus four individual ports. One of the ring resonators has a 100-nm-thick VO₂layer responsible for non-linear behavior of the device. The router achieves 56.5 and 64.5 dB of power limiting at the forward and reverse operating modes, respectively. Total transmission in the inactivated mode is 75%. Bi-stability and latching behavior are demonstrated and discussed.

This paper presents an antenna-coupled non-linear vanadium dioxide (VO2) microbolometer operating in the non-linear metal–insulator transition (MIT) region with an ultra-high responsivity of 6.55 × 104 V/W. Sputtered VO2 films used in this device exhibit 104 times change in resistivity between the dielectric and conductive states. The VO2 microbolometer is coupled to a wideband dipole antenna operating at 31–55 GHz and a coplanar waveguide for probed measurement. To enhance the sensitivity, the sensor is suspended in air by micro-electro-mechanical systems process. The large thermal coefficient of resistance of VO2 is utilized by DC biasing the device in the MIT region. Measurements for the fabricated sensor were performed, and a high responsivity was demonstrated, owing to non-linear conductivity change in the transition region. The measured sensitivity is >102 times higher than the state-of-the-art sensors. In addition, the concept of utilizing the proposed VO2 sensor in a mmWave imager was demonstrated by the radiation pattern measurement of a 4 × 4 (16 elements) antenna-coupled VO2 sensor array. The results presented in this work reveal the initial step to employ VO2's MIT for a hyper-sensitive sensor in future mmWave sensing and imaging applications.