Reconfigurable and programmable optical devices with phase change materials Sb2S3 and Sb2Se3

Recently proposed nonvolatile chalcogenide phase change materials Sb₂Se₃ and Sb₂S₃ exhibit low loss and significant refractive index modulation in the visible and NIR, which paves the way for the development of novel reconfigurable on-chip nanophotonic devices and programmable optical devices. Here, we discuss our recent investigations in terms of such devices, in particular, the realization of a compact (3 μm × 3 μm) integrated silicon nanophotonic 1 × 2 optical switch with phase change material Sb₂Se₃, and programmable multilevel diffractive optical lenses and holograms with phase change material Sb₂S₃.