Continuous Electrical Tuning of Reflectivity Using Phase-Change Materials

Phase change materials (PCM) have gained considerable interest in the photonics community as non-volatile tunable materials for reconfigurable devices. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the continuous electrical control of the crystalline fraction of GST via voltage pulses in platinum micro-heaters. Using co-designed electrical micro-heaters and a simple optical stack of thin-films including GST, we demonstrate the programming of more than 50 distinct levels of optical reflection in the near-infrared (NIR), spanning a three orders of magnitude reflection modulation. This continuous electrically-programmed phase transition is a promising strategy for PCM integration in industrial foundries and shows promises for individual pixel addressing in multi-level applications such as neuromorphic computing or spatial light modulators.