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      Probing the Electrical Switching of a Memristive Optical Antenna by STEM EELS

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          Abstract

          The scaling of active photonic devices to deep-submicron length-scales has been hampered by the fundamental diffraction limit and the absence of materials with sufficiently strong electro-optic effects. Here, we demonstrate a solid state electro-optical switching mechanism that can operate in the visible spectral range with an unparalleled active volume of less than 5 nm cube, comparable to the size of the smallest electronic components. The switching mechanism relies on electrochemically displacing metal atoms inside the nanometer-scale gap to electrically connect two crossed metallic wires forming a crosspoint junction. Such junctions afford extreme light concentration and display singular optical behavior upon formation of a conductive channel. We illustrate how this effect can be used to actively tune the resonances of plasmonic antennas. The tuning mechanism is analyzed using a combination of electrical and optical measurements as well as electron energy loss (EELS) in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM).

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          Micrometre-scale silicon electro-optic modulator.

          Metal interconnections are expected to become the limiting factor for the performance of electronic systems as transistors continue to shrink in size. Replacing them by optical interconnections, at different levels ranging from rack-to-rack down to chip-to-chip and intra-chip interconnections, could provide the low power dissipation, low latencies and high bandwidths that are needed. The implementation of optical interconnections relies on the development of micro-optical devices that are integrated with the microelectronics on chips. Recent demonstrations of silicon low-loss waveguides, light emitters, amplifiers and lasers approach this goal, but a small silicon electro-optic modulator with a size small enough for chip-scale integration has not yet been demonstrated. Here we experimentally demonstrate a high-speed electro-optical modulator in compact silicon structures. The modulator is based on a resonant light-confining structure that enhances the sensitivity of light to small changes in refractive index of the silicon and also enables high-speed operation. The modulator is 12 micrometres in diameter, three orders of magnitude smaller than previously demonstrated. Electro-optic modulators are one of the most critical components in optoelectronic integration, and decreasing their size may enable novel chip architectures.
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            Quantized conductance atomic switch.

            A large variety of nanometre-scale devices have been investigated in recent years that could overcome the physical and economic limitations of current semiconductor devices. To be of technological interest, the energy consumption and fabrication cost of these 'nanodevices' need to be low. Here we report a new type of nanodevice, a quantized conductance atomic switch (QCAS), which satisfies these requirements. The QCAS works by controlling the formation and annihilation of an atomic bridge at the crossing point between two electrodes. The wires are spaced approximately 1 nm apart, and one of the two is a solid electrolyte wire from which the atomic bridges are formed. We demonstrate that such a QCAS can switch between 'on' and 'off' states at room temperature and in air at a frequency of 1 MHz and at a small operating voltage (600 mV). Basic logic circuits are also easily fabricated by crossing solid electrolyte wires with metal electrodes.
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              Revealing the quantum regime in tunnelling plasmonics.

              When two metal nanostructures are placed nanometres apart, their optically driven free electrons couple electrically across the gap. The resulting plasmons have enhanced optical fields of a specific colour tightly confined inside the gap. Many emerging nanophotonic technologies depend on the careful control of this plasmonic coupling, including optical nanoantennas for high-sensitivity chemical and biological sensors, nanoscale control of active devices, and improved photovoltaic devices. But for subnanometre gaps, coherent quantum tunnelling becomes possible and the system enters a regime of extreme non-locality in which previous classical treatments fail. Electron correlations across the gap that are driven by quantum tunnelling require a new description of non-local transport, which is crucial in nanoscale optoelectronics and single-molecule electronics. Here, by simultaneously measuring both the electrical and optical properties of two gold nanostructures with controllable subnanometre separation, we reveal the quantum regime of tunnelling plasmonics in unprecedented detail. All observed phenomena are in good agreement with recent quantum-based models of plasmonic systems, which eliminate the singularities predicted by classical theories. These findings imply that tunnelling establishes a quantum limit for plasmonic field confinement of about 10(-8)λ(3) for visible light (of wavelength λ). Our work thus prompts new theoretical and experimental investigations into quantum-domain plasmonic systems, and will affect the future of nanoplasmonic device engineering and nanoscale photochemistry.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                2015-11-04
                Article
                1511.01457
                b088798d-441e-407c-ad59-0f2d534f0657

                http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/

                History
                Custom metadata
                17 pages, 3 figures
                cond-mat.mtrl-sci physics.optics

                Condensed matter,Optical materials & Optics
                Condensed matter, Optical materials & Optics

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