Theoretical study of an electrochemically controlled polymer nanoantenna for optical switch

Abstract

Conventional metallic nanoantennas allow the control of light at the nanoscale, but their untunable structural settings and material properties limit their optical modulation. Methods for dynamical control and modulation of light have become a hot topic in the development and application of nanooptics. Here, we propose a bowtie polymer poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene:sulfate) (PEDOT:Sulf) nanoantenna that enables dynamical control of the optical responses by electrochemical modulation of the plasmonic (oxidated) and dielectric (reduced) states of polymers. The switch effect of the nanoantenna is related to its electric polar mode. In addition, we explore the dependence of the optical response of the nanoantenna on structural parameters in detail. The tunable response of the nanoantenna has promising applications in optical switch and encoding in information transmission.