Thermal tunable one-dimensional photonic crystals containing phase change materialProject supported by the Key Science and Technology Research Project of Henan Province, China (Grant No. 1721023100107)

• Published in: Chinese physics B Vol. 29; no. 10
• Main Authors: Jia, Yuanlin, Ren, Peiwen, Fan, Chunzhen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chinese Physical Society and IOP Publishing Ltd 01.09.2020
• Subjects: phase change; photonic crystals; thermal modulation
• ISSN: 1674-1056
• DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/abab78

To obtain the adjustable photonic crystals (PCs), we numerically investigate one-dimensional (1D) PCs with alternating VO2 and SiO2 layers through transfer matrix method. The dispersion relation agrees well with the transmittance obtained by the finite element calculation. Tunable band gaps are achieved with the thermal stimuli of VO2, which has two crystal structures. The monoclinic crystal structure VO2 (R) at low temperature exhibits insulating property, and the high temperature square rutile structure VO2 (M) presents metal state. Concretely, the bandwidth is getting narrower and red shift occurs with the higher temperature in VO2 (R)/SiO2 PCs structure. Based on the phase change characteristics of VO2, we can flexibly adjust the original structure as VO2 (R)/VO2 (M)/SiO2. By increasing the phase ratio of VO2 (R) to VO2 (M), the band gap width gradually becomes wider and blue shift occurs. The discrete layers of gradient composites on the dispersion of 1D PCs are also investigated, which enhances the feasibility in practical operation. Thus, our proposed thermal modulation PCs structure paves a new way to realize thermal tunable optical filters and sensors.