Optical limitation of Mid-IR radiation in vanadium dioxide films

Theoretical and experimental results on the limitation of pulsed radiation in the spectral range 3.8–10.6 µm in vanadium dioxide films are presented. The effect of the film structure on the shape of the temperature hysteresis loop is studied. The film thickness and the structure of an interferometer with a vanadium dioxide film are optimized to improve the radiation limitation efficiency. The spatial dynamics of vanadium film switching under the action of a radiation pulse is investigated. It is shown experimentally that the radiation attenuation coefficient under the limitation conditions can be as high as 10 4 or more.