The Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Grating: principle and applications

In this work we show the possibility of realizing an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only-Grating (EEPROG), enabling several functionalities. The device can induce both periodic and non-periodic gratings in a non-volatile way, by means of a thin layer of phase change material (PCM) on top of a Silicon Nitride wire buried in Silicon Dioxide. The reflectivity spectrum of such a device versus the wavevector can be predicted by means of the Fourier Transform of its grating window. The presented EEPROG can pave the way to a new generation of general-purpose programmable photonic device. Specifically, here we introduce some possible novel functionalities enabled by the EEPROG, comprising computational optical spectrometers, non-volatile memories and optical transfer function shaping.