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Spatially-Controlled Planar Guided Crystallization of Low-Loss Phase Change Materials for Programmable Photonics
Fouad Bentata1,2,3, Arnaud Taute1, Capucine Laprais1
1CNRS, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, INSA Lyon, Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CPE Lyon, INL, UMR5270, Ecully, 69130, France.
Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
|October 11, 2025
Summary
Researchers developed a novel guided crystallization method for phase-change materials (PCMs) to create uniform, low-loss nanophotonic devices. This technique overcomes crystal growth inhomogeneities, enabling advanced reconfigurable photonic integrated circuits.
Area of Science:
- Photonics
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Photonic integrated devices are advancing towards programmable systems using phase-change materials (PCMs).
- Conventional PCMs exhibit crystal growth inhomogeneities, limiting device performance.
- Sb2S3 is a promising chalcogenide PCM for nanophotonics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel method for controlled growth of optically homogeneous Sb2S3 PCM.
- To address limitations posed by stochastic crystallization in PCM-based nanophotonics.
- To enable the development of reliable, non-volatile reconfigurable photonic integrated circuits.
Main Methods:
- Proposed spatially-controlled planar guided crystallization.
- Utilized seeded, directional, and progressive crystallization within confined channels.
- Fabricated and tested a multilevel non-volatile optical phase-shifter and a programmable metasurface.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated optically homogeneous, low-loss Sb2S3 PCM growth.
- Successfully circumvented limitations of conventional PCM crystallization.
- Achieved a multilevel non-volatile optical phase-shifter and a spectrally reconfigurable metasurface.
Conclusions:
- Spatially-controlled guided crystallization is key to uniform PCM properties.
- This method is crucial for industrial development of non-volatile reconfigurable photonic integrated circuits.
- Enables next-generation programmable photonic devices with enhanced performance.
