In situ synthesis of VO2 for tunable mid-infrared photonic devices

Photonic crystals are the perfect control units for manipulation of light due to their well-defined band-gaps. The geometry and optical properties of the materials define their light manipulation capabilities. In this work, a tunable photonic crystal is developed by synthesizing thermally controllable vanadium dioxide nanoparticles inside a photonic crystal array made of micrometrical hollow tubes. Through modulation of the phase transition and refractive index of VO2, both bandwidth and position of the photonic bandgaps can be manipulated. We show the tunability and reconfigurability of these photonic crystals, paving the way to the realization of programable photonic devices.