Abstract-Terahertz-triggered phase transition and hysteresis narrowing in a nanoantenna patterned vanadium dioxide film

ZACHARY J. THOMPSON, Andrew J. Stickel, YOUNG-GYUN JEONG, SANGHOON HAN, BYUNG HEE SON, MICHAEL J. PAUL, BYOUNGHWAK LEE, ALI MOUSAVIAN, GIWAN SEO, Hyun-Tak Kim, Yun-Shik Lee, and Dai-Sik Kim

Nano Lett., Just Accepted Manuscript

DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b01970

Publication Date (Web): August 24, 2015

Copyright © 2015 American Chemical Society

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b01970

We demonstrate that high-field THz pulses trigger transient insulator-to-metal transition in a nanoantenna patterned vanadium dioxide thin film. THz transmission of vanadium dioxide instantaneously decreases in the presence of strong THz fields. The transient THz absorption indicates that strong THz fields induce electronic insulator-to-metal transition without causing a structural transformation. The transient phase transition is activated on the sub-cycle time scale during which the THz pulse drives the electron distribution of vanadium dioxide far from equilibrium and disturb the electron correlation. The strong THz fields lower the activation energy in the insulating phase. The THz-triggered insulator-to-metal transition gives rise to hysteresis loop narrowing, while lowering the transition temperature both for heating and cooling sequences. THz nanoantennas enhance the field-induced phase transition by intensifying the field strength and improve the detection sensitivity via antenna resonance. The experimental results demonstrate a potential that plasmonic nanostructures incorporating vanadium dioxide can be the basis for ultrafast, energy-efficient electronic and photonic devices.