Electro-optical structure with high speed and high reflectivity modulation

A voltage controlled, multilayer electro-optic structure is proposed. It is constructed from repeated Schottky-like modules, which consist of layers of semiconductor-dielectric-semiconductor. The device reflectivity, in the range of incidence angles corresponding to surface plasmon excitation, is determined by the combined thickness and permittivity of the semiconductor space charge regions of all modules. A structure consisting of many modules allows for a large effective thickness of the voltage controlled space charge region which yields a high reflectivity modulation. Calculations show that fast (response time ∼ 10-10 s) and low-voltage structures with reflectivity modulation depth of more than 80% can be constructed.