近日，斯洛文尼亚Jozef Stefan研究所的Igor Vaskivskyi及其研究团队取得一项新进展。经过不懈努力，他们基于电子相变实现一种具有纳米特征尺寸的高效可编程极紫外光调制器。相关研究成果已于2024年2月2日在国际知名学术期刊《自然—光子学》上发表。
该研究团队创新性地报道了一种在特征尺寸低于90纳米的电子维格纳晶体材料中可逆印迹全息掩模的新方法。该方法利用极紫外光激光脉冲在亚皮秒时间尺度上进行印迹，使得该结构能作为高效衍射光栅，有效偏转极紫外光或软X射线。在低温条件下移除激励光束后，印迹的纳米结构保持稳定状态，但在单一加热光束的作用下可轻松擦除。
建模分析显示，该器件的效率可超过1%，接近当前最先进的蚀刻光栅，同时它还具有可编程和可调谐的优势，适用于大波长范围。这种观察到的效应源自层状过渡金属二硫化物在亚稳电子有序相之间转变时晶格常数的迅速变化。该研究提出的方法为在极紫外和软X射线光谱范围内，开发可调谐光调制器提供了潜在的应用途径。
据悉，对于极紫外（EUV）和X射线光子，由于缺乏有效的光调制器，它们的实际应用受到了极大的限制，特别是在需要稍微复杂的光束模式时。
附：英文原文
Title: A high-efficiency programmable modulator for extreme ultraviolet light with nanometre feature size based on an electronic phase transition
Author: Vaskivskyi, Igor, Mraz, Anze, Venturini, Rok, Jecl, Gregor, Vaskivskyi, Yevhenii, Mincigrucci, Riccardo, Foglia, Laura, De Angelis, Dario, Pelli-Cresi, Jacopo-Stefano, Paltanin, Ettore, Fainozzi, Danny, Bencivenga, Filippo, Masciovecchio, Claudio, Mihailovic, Dragan
Issue&Volume: 2024-02-02
Abstract: The absence of efficient light modulators for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray photons considerably limits their real-life application, particularly when even slight complexity of the beam patterns is required. Here we report on a novel approach to reversible imprinting of a holographic mask in an electronic Wigner crystal material with a sub-90-nm feature size. The structure is imprinted on a sub-picosecond timescale using EUV laser pulses, and acts as a high-efficiency diffraction grating that deflects EUV or soft X-ray light. The imprinted nanostructure is stable after the removal of the exciting beams at low temperatures, but can be easily erased by a single heating beam. Modelling shows that the efficiency of the device can exceed 1%, approaching state-of-the-art etched gratings, but with the benefit of being programmable and tunable over a large range of wavelengths. The observed effect is based on the rapid change of lattice constant upon transition between metastable electronically ordered phases in a layered transition metal dichalcogenide. The proposed approach is potentially useful for creating tunable light modulators in the EUV and soft X-ray spectral ranges.
DOI: 10.1038/s41566-024-01389-z
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41566-024-01389-z