Figure 5

Thermal latching and memory functionality of antenna–VO₂ hybrids. (a) Optical density of the antenna–VO₂ hybrid with L_v=L_h=210 nm while scanning the pulse energy up (black line) and down (red line) for background temperatures from 50 to 80 °C. Data were taken at 1200 nm and for parallel pump and readout polarizations at 0.1 MHz. (b) Differential response ΔOD/OD_Ant versus background temperature for the same experimental conditions as in a, for P_pump=0.6 nJ. (c) Experimental setup for the combined pulsed and CW pumping experiment. (d) Combined effect of two input pump sequences corresponding to 1 ps and one CW input. Sequence shows individual effects of both input I₁ and I₂ (bottom panel) and the combined effect of the two signals, including a memory latch (indicated by shaded area). Memory functionality is only observed for the CW control input I₁, whereas picosecond pulses do not provide latching functionality.