DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A PHOTONIC MEMRISTOR USING A METAMATERIAL

Abstract

A memristor is a nonlinear circuit element whose impedance depends on the history of current through the device. Photonic circuits are circuits that use photons rather than electrons to transfer signals. Memristors, then, exist in photonic circuits. With this in mind, we proposed, designed, and constructed the analogue of a memristor for use in a photonic circuit, in the infrared regime. The design focuses on an array of silver pillars, of varying pitch. The team's simulations indicate that changes in the pitch of the array modify the transmittance of infrared-regime light rays. After conducting these simulations, the team constructed a five-by-fi ve array of polymer rods, with height 3.5 μm and pitch 5 μm, and coated in 100 nm of gold. We then immersed the array in various PNIPAm solutions. PNIPAm expands with increasing temperature around 32 °C, and so is thought to change the pitch of the array. This is the first use of a PNIPAm-based polymer to attempt to achieve a variable pitch, for use in a photonic memristor.