Mid-IR light modulators enabled by dynamically tunable ultra-high-Q silicon membrane metasurfaces
7 affiliations
- 1Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
- 2Qingdao Innovation and Development Center, Harbin Engineering University, Quingdao, China
- 3School of Physics and Engineering, ITMO University, St. Petersburg, Russia
- 4University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
- 5Qingdao Innovation and Development Center, Harbin Engineering University, Quingdao, China. [email protected]
- 6School of Physics and Engineering, ITMO University, St. Petersburg, Russia. [email protected]
- 7Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland. [email protected]
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.
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BibTeX
@article{richter2026midir,
title = {{Mid-IR light modulators enabled by dynamically tunable ultra-high-Q silicon membrane metasurfaces}},
author = {Felix Richter and Aleksei S. Ezerskii and Olesia Pashina and Nikita Glebov and Wenping Yin and Wenping Yin and Sergey V. Makarov and Mihail I. Petrov and Ivan Sinev and Hatice Altug},
journal = {Nature Communications},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-75121-6},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75121-6},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Mid-IR light modulators enabled by dynamically tunable ultra-high-Q silicon membrane metasurfaces
AU - Felix Richter
AU - Aleksei S. Ezerskii
AU - Olesia Pashina
AU - Nikita Glebov
AU - Wenping Yin
AU - Wenping Yin
AU - Sergey V. Makarov
AU - Mihail I. Petrov
AU - Ivan Sinev
AU - Hatice Altug
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/17
JO - Nature Communications
DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-75121-6
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75121-6
AB - 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.
SN - 2041-1723
ER -