TY - JOUR
T1 - Chalcogenide phase-change material advances programmable terahertz metamaterials
T2 - a non-volatile perspective for reconfigurable intelligent surfaces
AU - Chen, Kai
AU - Song, Wenju
AU - Li, Zhaolin
AU - Wang, Zihao
AU - Ma, Junqing
AU - Wang, Xinjie
AU - Sun, Tao
AU - Guo, Qinglei
AU - Shi, Yanpeng
AU - Qin, Wei Dong
AU - Song, Aimin
AU - Chen, Hou Tong
AU - Zhang, Yifei
PY - 2024/5/2
Y1 - 2024/5/2
N2 - Terahertz (THz) waves have gained considerable attention in the rising 6G communication due to their large bandwidth. However, the cost and power consumption become the major constraints for the commercialization of 6G THz systems as the frequency increases. Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) comprising active metasurfaces and digital controllers has been proposed for beamforming in the 6G multiple-input-multiple-output systems, showing good potential to suppress the system size, weight, and power consumption (SWaP). Currently, their controlling diodes can hardly work up to THz frequencies. Therefore, several active stimuli have been investigated as alternatives. Among them, chalcogenide phase-change material Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) addresses large modulation depth, picosecond switching speed, and non-volatile properties. Notably, the non-volatile GST may enable RIS systems with memory and low control power. This work briefly reviews the advances of GST-tuned THz metamaterials (MTMs), discusses the current obstacles to overcome, and gives a perspective of GST applications in the rising 6G communications.
AB - Terahertz (THz) waves have gained considerable attention in the rising 6G communication due to their large bandwidth. However, the cost and power consumption become the major constraints for the commercialization of 6G THz systems as the frequency increases. Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) comprising active metasurfaces and digital controllers has been proposed for beamforming in the 6G multiple-input-multiple-output systems, showing good potential to suppress the system size, weight, and power consumption (SWaP). Currently, their controlling diodes can hardly work up to THz frequencies. Therefore, several active stimuli have been investigated as alternatives. Among them, chalcogenide phase-change material Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) addresses large modulation depth, picosecond switching speed, and non-volatile properties. Notably, the non-volatile GST may enable RIS systems with memory and low control power. This work briefly reviews the advances of GST-tuned THz metamaterials (MTMs), discusses the current obstacles to overcome, and gives a perspective of GST applications in the rising 6G communications.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85184078290&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1515/nanoph-2023-0645
DO - 10.1515/nanoph-2023-0645
M3 - Article
VL - 13
SP - 2101
EP - 2105
JO - Nanophotonics
JF - Nanophotonics
IS - 12
ER -