2026-09-10 スイス連邦工科大学ローザンヌ校（EPFL）
Image of wafer-scale membranes made up of 1 cm × 1 cm chips, each containing 7 × 7 metasurfaces. EPFL BIOS CC BY SA 4.0
＜関連情報＞
- https://actu.epfl.ch/news/a-new-way-to-control-infrared-light-in-real-time-2/
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-75121-6
動的に調整可能な超高Qシリコン膜メタサーフェスによって実現される中赤外線光変調器 Mid-IR light modulators enabled by dynamically tunable ultra-high-Q silicon membrane metasurfaces
Felix Ulrich Brikh,Aleksei Ezerskii,Olesia Pashina,Nikita Glebov,Wenhong Yang,Wenping Yin,Sergey V. Makarov,Mihail Petrov,Ivan Sinev & Hatice Altug
Nature Communications Published:17 July 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75121-6
Abstract
Metasurfaces enable subwavelength control of free-space light for applications in sensing, nonlinear optics, and quantum photonics. However, their practical deployment is hindered by two key limitations: a tradeoff between low-Q resonances and weak amplitude contrast, and their predominantly static nature allowing only passive functionalities. These challenges are particularly severe in the mid-infrared (mid-IR), where the scarcity of low-loss materials constrains performance and scalability. Here, we demonstrate actively tunable single-crystalline silicon membrane metasurfaces combining high-Q resonances, strong amplitude contrast, and wafer-scale manufacturability. Our platform achieves record-high measured Q-factors up to 3000 in the mid-IR and supports two dynamic modulation schemes: electro-thermal tuning via Joule heating with >50% modulation depth at CMOS-compatible voltages and speeds up to 14.5 kHz, and ultrafast all-optical modulation via carrier generation in silicon with nanosecond response times and estimated sub-GHz rates. These results establish silicon membrane metasurfaces as a scalable platform for active mid-IR photonics.
