Nanoelectromechanical devices have been used widely in
many applications
across photonics, electronics, and acoustics. Their incorporation
into metasurface systems could be beneficial in designing new types
of active photonic devices. Here, we propose a design of active metasurfaces
using a nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) composed of silicon bars
which operates under CMOS-level voltage and achieves phase modulation
with wavelength-scale pixel pitch. By introducing a perturbation to
the slot mode propagating between the silicon bars, the device operates
in a high-Qregime, making the optical mode highly
sensitive to mechanical movement. An over 12 dB reflection modulation
is observed by full-wave simulation, and over 10% is achieved in the
proof-of-concept experiment under CMOS-level voltage. We also simulate
a device with 1.8π phase response using a bottom gold mirror.
Based on this device, a 3-pixel optical beam deflector is shown to
have 75% diffraction efficiency.