Pixelated electrically reconfigurable metasurfaces for intelligent thermal emission control

Abstract

The era of intelligent machines demands advanced hardware capable of high-density data collection and processing within compact platforms. Thermal-infrared emission, with its dual functionalities of heat and light, enables promising applications in optical data acquisition and information processing. However, the inherent stochastic nature and slow thermal response speed of thermal emission limit practical applications. In this work, we demonstrate electrically programmable, pixelated metasurfaces based on GeTe phase-change materials that enable dynamic and localized control of thermal-infrared emission. By integrating GeTe into hybrid plasmonic meta-atoms with strong field confinement, we achieve fast, nonvolatile switching with large optical contrast using minimal active material. This approach allows multidimensional tunability, establishing a versatile platform for reconfigurable photonic systems with high integration density, adaptive functionality, and embedded intelligence.