A high-efficiency programmable modulator for extreme ultraviolet light with nm feature size based on an electronic phase transition

The absence of efficient light modulators for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray photons significantly limits their real-life application, particularly when even slight complexity of the beam patterns is required. Here we report on a novel approach to reversible imprinting of a holographic mask in...

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Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors Vaskivskyi, Igor, Mraz, Anze, Venturini, Rok, Jecl, Gregor, Vaskivskyi, Yevhenii, Mincigrucci, Riccardo, Foglia, Laura, De Angelis, Dario, Jacopo-Stefano Pelli-Cresi, Paltanin, Ettore, Fainozzi, Danny, Bencivenga, Filippo, Masciovecchio, Claudio, Mihailovic, Dragan
Format Paper Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 15.11.2023
Subjects
Efficiency
Extreme ultraviolet radiation
Gratings (spectra)
Lattice parameters
Light modulators
Low temperature
Phase transitions
Physics - Optics
Physics - Strongly Correlated Electrons
Soft x rays
Transition metal compounds
X ray spectra
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Summary:The absence of efficient light modulators for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray photons significantly limits their real-life application, particularly when even slight complexity of the beam patterns is required. Here we report on a novel approach to reversible imprinting of a holographic mask in an electronic Wigner crystal material with a sub-90 nm feature size. The structure is imprinted on a sub-picosecond time-scale using EUV laser pulses and acts as a high-efficiency diffraction grating that deflects EUV or soft X-ray light. The imprinted nanostructure is stable after the removal of the exciting beams at low temperatures but can be easily erased by a single heating beam. Modeling shows that the efficiency of the device can exceed 1%, approaching state-of-the-art etched gratings, but with the benefit of being programmable and tunable over a large range of wavelengths. The observed effect is based on the rapid change of lattice constant upon transition between metastable electronically-ordered phases in a layered transition metal dichalcogenide. The proposed approach is potentially useful for creating tunable light modulators in the EUV and soft X-ray spectral ranges.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.2311.08809