Electronically Variable Optical Attenuator Enabled by Self-Sensing in Vanadium Dioxide

Author

Davila, Noraica ; Merced, Emmanuelle ; Sepulveda, Nelson

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI, USA

Volume

26

Issue

10

fYear

2014

fDate

15-May-14

Firstpage

1011

Lastpage

1014

Abstract

A fully electronic variable optical attenuator in the near-infrared region is reported. The observed attenuation varied from 0 to 19.24 dB. The device is enabled by the strong correlation between the electrical and optical properties in vanadium dioxide thin films across its phase transition. A self-sensing feedback approach is used to significantly reduce the inherently hysteretic behavior of the film. The reduction of the hysteresis, sensing the electrical resistance with respect to the optical transmission, allowed for a relatively simple approach for the modeling and control of the system.

Keywords

infrared spectra; optical attenuators; optical sensors; thin films; vanadium compounds; VO₂; attenuation; electrical properties; electrical resistance; fully electronic variable optical attenuator; hysteretic behavior; near-infrared region; optical properties; optical transmission; phase transition; self-sensing feedback; vanadium dioxide thin films; Electrical resistance measurement; Optical attenuators; Optical feedback; Optical sensors; Optical variables measurement; Resistance; Temperature measurement; Vanadium dioxide; hysteresis reduction; phase-change material; self-sensing feedback; variable optical attenuator;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LPT.2014.2312294

Filename

6774874