A Programmable Wafer-scale Chiroptical Heterostructure of Twisted Aligned Carbon Nanotubes and Phase Change Materials

The ability to design and dynamically control chiroptical responses in solid-state matter at wafer scale enables new opportunities in various areas. Here we present a full stack of computer-aided designs and experimental implementations of a dynamically programmable, unified, scalable chiroptical heterostructure containing twisted aligned one-dimensional (1D) carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and non-volatile phase change materials (PCMs). We develop a software infrastructure based on high-performance machine learning frameworks, including differentiable programming and derivative-free optimization, to efficiently optimize the tunability of both excitonic reciprocal and linear-anisotropy-induced nonreciprocal circular dichroism (CD) responses. We experimentally implement designed heterostructures with wafer-scale self-assembled aligned CNTs and deposited PCMs. We dynamically program reciprocal and nonreciprocal CD responses by inducing phase transitions of PCMs, and nonreciprocal responses display polarity reversal of CD upon sample flipping in broadband spectral ranges. All experimental results agree with simulations. Further, we demonstrate that the vertical dimension of heterostructure is scalable with the number of stacking layers and aligned CNTs play dual roles – the layer to produce CD responses and the Joule heating electrode to electrically program PCMs. This heterostructure platform is versatile and expandable to a library of 1D nanomaterials and electro-optic materials for exploring novel chiral phenomena and photonic and optoelectronic devices.