Reconfigurable rectifiers in active photonics

The important nonlinear effect of optical rectification in active metasurfaces,converts high frequency vis/infrared light to direct current. Recently, researchers discovered a reconfigurable optically rectifying junction. We focus on 3 junctions: 1) optical rectification in a simple, lithographically-defined Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) diode consisting of a planar Al electrode, a thin Al2O3 barrier layer, and a planar Ag counter-electrode. Applying a voltage grows nm-scale filament from the Al side. 2) nanoplatelet and substrate that demonstrates single-electron tunneling (SET) predict and model low-energy ( MHz) synaptic operations 3) Experiments conducted to determine whether a ferromagnetic layer in MIM reoriented can change the direct current and the rectified current, when exposed to an incident laser beam. This large tunability enables adaptive ultrafast photon detectors, wireless power transmission, energy harvesting, advanced antennas, computing.