Graphene metasurface-based switchable terahertz half-/quarter-wave plate with a broad bandwidth

Metasurfaces incorporating graphene hold great promise for the active manipulation of terahertz waves. However,it remains challenging to design a broadband graphene-based terahertz metasurface with switchable functionality of half-wave plate(HWP) and quarter-wave plate(QWP). Here, we propose a graphene–metal hybrid metasurface for achieving broadband switchable HWP/QWP in the terahertz regime. Simulation results show that, by varying the Fermi energy of graphene from 0 eV to 1 eV, the function of the reflective metasurface can be switched from an HWP with polarization conversion ratio exceeding 97% over a wide band ranging from 0.7 THz to 1.3 THz, to a QWP with ellipticity above 0.92over 0.78 THz–1.33 THz. The sharing bandwidth reaches up to 0.52 THz and the relative bandwidth is as high as 50%.We expect this broadband and dynamically switchable terahertz HWP/QWP will find applications in terahertz sensing,imaging, and telecommunications.

All-dielectric terahertz metasurface governed by bound states in the continuum with high-Q factor

The method of terahertz(THz)resonance with a high-quality(high-Q)factor offers a vital physical mechanism for metasurface sensors and other high-Q factor applications.However,it is challenging to excite the resonance with a high-Q factor in metasurfaces with proper sensitivity as well as figure of merit(FOM)values.Here,an all-dielectric metasurface composed of two asymmetrical rectangular blocks is suggested.Quartz and silicon are the materials applied for the substrate and cuboids respectively.The distinct resonance governed by bound states in the continuum(BIC)is excited by forming an asymmetric cluster by a novel hybrid method of cutting and moving the cuboids.The investigation focuses on analyzing the transmission spectra of the metasurface under different variations in structural parameters and the loss of silicon refractive index.When the proposed defective metasurface serves as a transmittance sensor,it shows a Q factor of 1.08×10^(4)and achieves an FOM up to 4.8×10^(6),which is obtained under the asymmetric parameter equalling 1μm.Simultaneously,the proposed defective metasurface is sensitive to small changes in refractive index.When the thickness of the analyte is 180μm,the sensitivity reaches a maximum value of 578 GHz/RIU.Hence,the proposed defective metasurface exhibits an extensive number of possible applications in the filters,biomedical diagnosis,security screening,and so on.

Near-field manipulation of terahertz surface waves by metasurfaces [Invited]

Surface waves（SWs） are a special form of electromagnetic waves that travel along the boundary between a metal and a dielectric. The special optical properties of SWs render them very attractive in applications, such as subdiffractional lithography, novel biochemical sensors, and ultrafast integrated circuitries. Herein, we present a review of our recent progress in excitation and manipulation of terahertz SWs due to interference or coupling between a pair of slit resonators in metasurfaces, showing the ability to devise ultrathin and compact plasmonic components.

Spin-multiplexed full-space trifunctional terahertz metasurface[Invited]

The widespread use of multifunctional metasurfaces has started to revolutionize conventional electromagnetic devices due to their unprecedented capabilities and exceedingly low losses.Specifically,geometric metasurfaces that utilize spatially varied single-celled elements to impart arbitrary phase modulation under circularly polarized(CP)waves have attracted more attention.However,the geometric phase has intrinsically opposite signs for two spins,resulting in locked and mirrored functionalities for the right-handed and left-handed CP beams.Additionally,the demonstrated geometric metasurfaces so far have been limited to operating in either transmission or reflection modes at a single wavelength.Here,we propose a double-layered metasurface composed of complementary elliptical and reversal ring resonator structures to achieve simultaneous and independent control of the reflection and transmission of CP waves at two independent terahertz frequencies,which integrates three functions of reflected beam deflection,reflected Bessel beam generation,and transmitted beam focusing on the whole space.The high efficiency and simple design of our metasurface will open new avenues for integrated terahertz metadevices with advanced functionalities.

Inversely-designed terahertz metadevice with ultrafast modulation of double electromagnetically induced transparency windows

Terahertz metasurfaces have great applications for efficient terahertz modulation, but there are still problems in designing terahertz metadevices in terms of complexity and inefficiency. Herein, we demonstrate an inversely-designed terahertz metasurface with double electromagnetically induced transparency(EIT)-like windows by incorporating a particle swarm optimization(PSO) algorithm with the finite-difference time-domain method. We prepared and tested the metadevices, and the experimental terahertz signals are close to the designed results. By hybridizing amorphous germanium film with the inversely-designed metasurface, two EIT-like windows, including transmission and slow-light effect, exhibit ultrafast modulation behavior in 25 ps excited by a femtosecond laser. The modulation depths of transmission in two transparency windows are 74% and 65%, respectively. The numerical simulations also illustrate the ultrafast dynamic process and modulation mechanism, which match well with the experiment results. Our work thus offers opportunities for designing other objective functions of the terahertz metadevice.

Design of multi-channel terahertz beam splitter based on Z-shaped metasurface

A reflective beam splitter is proposed and verified. The unit cell of the beam splitter is composed of a metal pattern, a dielectric substrate, and a metallic ground. Each subarray structure of the device is composed of four unit cells, which are gradually rotated at 45°. The horizontal and vertical subarrays form a 4×4 gradient metasurface supercell. In the operating frequency band, the incident linearly polarized terahertz wave is reflected and divided into four beams of approximately equal power but different propagation directions. The proposed terahertz beam splitter based on metasurface has the advantages of small size, low cost and easy processing, and can be applied to terahertz stealth and imaging.