Low energy switching of phase change materials using a 2D thermal boundary layer

Abstract

The switchable optical and electrical properties of phase change materials (PCMs) are finding new applications beyond data storage in reconfigurable photonic devices.However, high power heat pulses are needed to melt-quench the material from crystalline to amorphous. This is especially true in silicon photonics, where the high thermal conductivity of the waveguide material makes heating the PCM energy inefficient. Here, we improve the energy efficiency of the laser induced phase transitions by

Roadmap for phase change materials in photonics and beyond

“…As an example, very recently, a layer of two-dimensional (2D) material, either MoS 2 or WS 2 , between the silica or silicon and the PCM has been reported to reduce the required laser power by at least 40% during the amorphization process. 131 …”