1205.5253 (Johannes Zimmer et al.)

Ion beam synthesis of nanothermochromic diffraction gratings with giant
switching contrast at telecom wavelengths    [PDF]

Johannes Zimmer, Achim Wixforth, Helmut Karl, Hubert J. Krenner

Nanothermochromic diffraction gratings based on the metal-insulator transition of $\mathrm{VO_2}$ are fabricated by site-selective ion beam implantation in a $\mathrm{SiO_2}$ matrix. Gratings were defined either (i) directly by spatially selective ion beam synthesis or (ii) by site-selective deactivation of the phase transition by ion beam induced defects. The strongest increase of the diffracted light intensities was observed at a wavelength of 1550\,nm exceeding a factor of 20 for the selectively deactivated gratings. The observed pronounced thermal hysteresis extending down close to room temperature makes this system ideally suited for optical memory applications.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1205.5253