US 11,914,266 B1
Tunable optical devices with extended-depth tunable dielectric cavities
Gleb M. Akselrod, Kenmore, WA (US); Lie “Larry” Zhao, Washougal, WA (US); Erik Edward Josberger, Renton, WA (US); Laura Maria Pulido Mancera, Bellevue, WA (US); Linda Gail Conway, Duvall, WA (US); and Prasad Padmanabha Iyer, Albuquerque, NM (US)
Assigned to Lumotive, Inc., Redmond, WA (US)
Filed by Lumotive, Inc., Redmond, WA (US)
Filed on Jun. 5, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/329,526.
Int. Cl. G02F 1/29 (2006.01); C23C 22/73 (2006.01); C25D 5/34 (2006.01)
CPC G02F 1/292 (2013.01) [C23C 22/73 (2013.01); C25D 5/34 (2013.01); G02F 2202/30 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A tunable optical device, comprising:
a dielectric substrate;
an array of elongated metal rails extending from the dielectric substrate and spaced from one another by less than a wavelength of an operational bandwidth to form channels between adjacent elongated metal rails, wherein each elongated metal rail extends to a height, H, from the dielectric substrate, such that each channel has a channel depth, DC, corresponding to the height, H;
a plurality of channel extensions formed in the dielectric substrate to an extension depth, DE, wherein each channel extension is positioned beneath a corresponding channel to form an extended-depth channel with an extended depth, DED, corresponding to the sum of the channel depth, DC, and the extension depth, DE, wherein the extended depth, DED is greater than the height, H; and
a tunable dielectric material that has a tunable refractive index positioned to fill each extended-depth channel, including to fill each channel extension and corresponding channel.