Phase change optoelectronics in emerging applications

Phase change materials, rarely mentioned in the same breath as many better known materials are surprisingly a commercialized class of materials (the reader has used one at some point), most frequently used in re-writable optical discs (such as CDs and DVDs). They have also been of intense research interest in the electronic memories (phase change memories or PCMs), because they are active both electronically and optically. My students and postdocs along with collaborators have been investigating novel applications using these remarkable materials, and in this talk will cover some of these applications, particularly in displays and photonic memories. I will also briefly talk about an application that could potentially benefit from phase change materials being employed, i.e. NEMS.