Patent ID: 11914266
Assignee: LUMOTIVE, INC.
Field: Surface technology, coating (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC G  C | IPC C  G

Claim 9:
10. A tunable optical device, comprising:
a dielectric substrate;
an array of metal elements extending from the dielectric substrate and spaced from one another by less than a wavelength of an operational bandwidth to form gaps between adjacent metal elements, wherein each metal element extends to a height, H, from the dielectric substrate, such that each gap has a depth, D, that corresponds to the height, H;
a plurality of gap extensions formed within the dielectric substrate, wherein each gap extension is positioned beneath a corresponding gap to form an extended-depth gap with an extended depth, DED, that is greater than the height, H; and
a tunable dielectric material that has a tunable refractive index positioned to fill the extended depth, DED, of the extended-depth gaps.