Stark-Effect Intersubband Polaritonic Metasurfaces for free-space infrared modulation

TransWave Photonics proposes to develop a fast, efficient infrared free-space optical modulator based on voltage-controlled optical metasurfaces consisting of metallic nano-resonators loaded with semiconductor multiple-quantum-wells. Electronic transitions within quantum wells are engineered to support large quantum confined Stark effect with switching speed at picosecond timescales. The nano-resonators enable coupling to intersubband transitions from free-space, typically prohibitive due to selection rules for optical absorption. The modulators are expected to operate in excess of 50 GHz (principally limited by device packaging), with both high modulation depth and low insertion loss (limited by intersubband transition linewidth and resonator quality factor).. The proposed design framework is applicable for all relevant mid-infrared wavelengths, enabling compatibility with the full spectrum of mid-infrared lasers.