Multistability and switching in a superconducting metamaterial

The field of metamaterial research revolves around the idea of creating artificial media that interact with light in a way unknown from naturally occurring materials. This is commonly achieved using sub-wavelength lattices of electronic or plasmonic structures, so-called meta-atoms. One of the ultimate goals for these tailored media is the ability to control their properties in situ. Here we show that superconducting quantum interference devices can be used as fast, switchable meta-atoms. We find that their intrinsic nonlinearity leads to simultaneously stable dynamic states, each of which is associated with a different value and sign of the magnetic susceptibility in the microwave domain. Moreover, we demonstrate that it is possible to switch between these states by applying nanosecond-long pulses in addition to the microwave-probe signal. Apart from potential applications for this all-optical metamaterial switch, the results suggest that multistability can also be utilized in other types of nonlinear meta-atoms.