ASCENT: PROWESS: Phase-change Reconfigurable Optical WavEfront Synthesis System

On-demand control of light propagation has been a Holy Grail for photonic engineers. An optical system capable of dynamic control of light propagation can be reconfigured on-the-fly to fulfill diverse functions such as light focusing, deflection, and switching, making them useful for applications such as photonic switching, display, imaging, and optical camouflage.

This project aims to demonstrate such a system, which consists of sub-wavelength structures made of phase-change materials. The atomic structure and hence optical properties of the phase-change materials can be dynamically modulated, thereby enabling the system to be flexibly reconfigured to meet diverse application needs. The system, once realized, will have far-reaching impacts across many fields of optics and photonics by enabling new optical computing and imaging systems with major size, weight, and power advantages over their traditional counterparts.

The research will be tightly integrated with interdisciplinary massive open online course development.

In this project, a team of researchers with cross-cutting expertise spanning materials science, photonic devices and circuits will demonstrate a Phase-change Reconfigurable Optical WavEfront Synthesis System (PROWESS). PROWESS will realize independent continuous optical phase tuning and amplitude modulation with wavelength-scale resolution, thereby enabling complete control of light propagation.

PROWESS comprises metasurfaces or sub-wavelength antenna arrays made of novel phase-change materials, where their phase transition and hence refractive index are electrically tuned. Switching of a large metasurface matrix is facilitated by integration with silicon transistor arrays. PROWESS will be further applied to realize a reconfigurable optical neural network and an infrared imaging system capable of collecting of multi-dimensional information such as light wavelength and polarization.

Success of the project will not only directly benefit information technology and national security, but also strengthen US semiconductor and photonics manufacturing.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.