Versatile spaceborne photonics with chalcogenide phase-change materials

8Citations
Citations of this article
7Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

Recent growth in space systems has seen increasing capabilities packed into smaller and lighter Earth observation and deep space mission spacecraft. Phase-change materials (PCMs) are nonvolatile, reconfigurable, fast-switching, and have recently shown a high degree of space radiation tolerance, thereby making them an attractive materials platform for spaceborne photonics applications. They promise robust, lightweight, and energy-efficient reconfigurable optical systems whose functions can be dynamically defined on-demand and on-orbit to deliver enhanced science or mission support in harsh environments on lean power budgets. This comment aims to discuss the recent advances in rapidly growing PCM research and its potential to transition from conventional terrestrial optoelectronics materials platforms to versatile spaceborne photonic materials platforms for current and next-generation space and science missions. Materials International Space Station Experiment-14 (MISSE-14) mission-flown PCMs outside of the International Space Station (ISS) and key results and NASA examples are highlighted to provide strong evidence of the applicability of spaceborne photonics.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Kim, H. J., Julian, M., Williams, C., Bombara, D., Hu, J., Gu, T., … Humphreys, W. (2024). Versatile spaceborne photonics with chalcogenide phase-change materials. Npj Microgravity, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-024-00358-8

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free