Dispersion of surface plasmon polaritons on metal wires in the terahertz frequency range

We report the experimental and theoretical study of the dispersive behavior of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on cylindrical metal surfaces in the terahertz frequency range. Time-domain measurements of terahertz SPPs propagating on metal wires reveal a unique structure that is inconsistent with a simple extrapolation of the high frequency portion of the dispersion diagram for SPPs on a planar metal surface, and also distinct from that of SPPs on metal nanowires observed at visible and near-infrared frequencies. The results are consistent with a numerical solution of Maxwell's equations, showing that the dispersive behavior of SPPs on a cylindrical metal surface at terahertz frequencies is quite different from that of SPPs on a flat surface. These findings indicate the increasing importance of skin effects for SPPs in the terahertz range, as well as the enhancement of such effects on curved surfaces.     

介质填充浅槽周期结构表面上的太赫兹表面等离子体激元

通过在金属表面刻成浅的垂直凹槽,并在槽内填充不同的介质,对金属表面浅槽周期结构上传播的表面等离子体激元的色散特性与填充介质的关系进行了研究.研究表明通过在周期凹槽内填充介质可以有效降低人工表面等离子体激元的渐近频率,并增强金属表面对电磁场的约束.分析了太赫兹波段金属的吸收损耗对人工表面等离子体激元特性的影响,结果显示基于填充介质的浅槽周期表面结构可以获得长距离传输以及场的亚波长约束.通过对波传输的数值仿真,验证了该表面结构在太赫兹波段良好的导波能力.这种表面结构对太赫兹波段新型集成导波器件的设计具有参考价值.     

介质填充浅槽周期结构表面上的太赫兹表面等离子体激元

通过在金属表面刻成浅的垂直凹槽,并在槽内填充不同的介质,对金属表面浅槽周期结构上传播的表面等离子体激元的色散特性与填充介质的关系进行了研究.研究表明通过在周期凹槽内填充介质可以有效降低人工表面等离子体激元的渐近频率,并增强金属表面对电磁场的约束.分析了太赫兹波段金属的吸收损耗对人工表面等离子体激元特性的影响,结果显示基于填充介质的浅槽周期表面结构可以获得长距离传输以及场的亚波长约束.通过对波传输的数值仿真,验证了该表面结构在太赫兹波段良好的导波能力.这种表面结构对太赫兹波段新型集成导波器件的设计具有参考价值.     

Focused terahertz radiation formed by coherently scattered surface plasmon polaritons from partially uncorrugated metal surfaces

We present that a focus of terahertz radiation can be tailored based on coherent scattering of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) from a partially defected metal corrugation based on numerical simulations. The introduction of teeth defects in the corrugation allows coupling of the guided SPPs with the radiation and the far-field behavior is tailored by the spatial arrangement of such defects. The proposed structures serve as a kind of planar lenses which are quite thin and inexpensive. Promising applications include interfacing lens antennas between terahertz plasmonic integrated circuits and the external free space, which make terahertz systems very compact and low-cost.     

Accurate calculation of terahertz attenuation of a dielectric-coated metal wire with an intervening air gap using the engineering approach

A dielectric-coated metal wire with an intervening air gap between the conductor and inner surface of the dielectric is presented and demonstrated by theoretical calculation at terahertz frequencies. The characteristic equation of such a modified Goubau surface-wave transmission line is derived for the general case of a lossy dielectric and imperfect conductor. The terahertz attenuation of the modified Goubau line is investigated by using the accurate classical relaxation-effect frequency dispersion model. The influences of the different dimensions, different metal and dielectric materials on terahertz attenuation are also analyzed. In addition, the errors introduced by adopting the traditional and much simpler classical skin-effect model are also quantified. By using various conductivity models, the variation of the conductor loss is changed from 2.8% to 5.5%, and the variation of total loss is changed from 2.4% to 4.7%. It is shown that for certain combinations of the electrical dimensions of the structure the improvement in the attenuation constant over the Goubau line can be higher than 5 dB and realize stronger field confinement at terahertz frequency. The numerical results are very useful for the development of the surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) devices in the fields of terahertz spectroscopy, sensors and detectors.     

缩比模型的宽频时域太赫兹雷达散射截面(RCS)研究

本文首次以钛宝石飞秒激光振荡级为抽运源,搭建了国内首套宽频时域太赫兹雷达(带宽0.1—1.3 THz)并进行了基于标准球的系统校正验证.利用该雷达测量了太赫兹波段三种缩比模型的散射时域信号.通过改进后的后向投影算法对模型的轮廓外形进行了成像研究,验证了新型时域散射信号成像机理.太赫兹雷达更高的频率,宽谱的特征和高分辨率成像的能力有望用于隐形外形设计过程,成为新兴的太赫兹散射特征研究平台.     

Spoof surface plasmon-based bandpass filter with extremely wide upper stopband

We investigate the guiding modes of spoof surface plasmon polaritons(SPPs) on a symmetric ultra-thin plasmonic structure. From the analysis, we deduce the operating frequency region of the single-mode propagation. Based on this property, a spoof SPPs lowpass filter is then constituted in the microwave frequency. By introducing a transmission zero at the lower frequency band using a pair of stepped-impedance stubs, a wide passband filter is further realized. The proposed filter is fed by a transducer composed of a microstrip line with a flaring ground. The simulated results show that the presented filter has an extremely wide upper stopband in addition to excellent passband filtering characteristics such as low loss, wide band, and high square ratio. A prototype passband filter is also fabricated to validate the predicted performances.The proposed spoof-SPPs filter is believed to be very promising for other surface waveguide components in microwave and terahertz bands.     

Effects of a one-dimensional surface defect on designer surface plasmon polaritons

By using a finite difference time domain(FDTD) method,the effects of a one-dimensional(1D) surface defect on designer surface plasmon polaritons(designer SPPs) supported by a 1D metallic grating in THz domain are investigated.When the size of the defect is in a special range which is not too large,the designer SPPs reflected and scattered by the defect are weak enough to be neglected.The defect only induces a disturbance in the energy distribution of the designer SPP supported by the whole defect grating.If the defect size exceeds the said range,the reflecting and scattering are dominant in the influences of the defect on designer SPPs.Our analysis opens opportunities to control and direct designer SPPs by introducing a 1D defect,especially in low frequency domain.     

Cherenkov terahertz radiation from Dirac semimetals surface plasmon polaritons excited by an electron beam

We demonstrate a physical mechanism for terahertz(THz) generation from surface plasmon polaritons(SPPs). In a structure with a bulk Dirac semimetals(BDSs) film deposited on a dielectric substrate, the energy of the asymmetric SPP mode can be significantly enhanced to cross the light line of the substrate due to the SPP-coupling between the interfaces of the film. Therefore, the SPPs can be immediately transformed into Cherenkov radiation without removing the wavevector mismatch. Additionally, the symmetric SPP mode can also be dramatically lifted to cross the substrate light line when a buffer layer with low permittivity relative to the substrate is introduced. In this case, dual-frequency THz radiation from the two SPP modes can be generated simultaneously. The radiation intensity is significantly enhanced by over two orders due to the field enhancement of the SPPs. The radiation frequency can be tuned in the THz frequency regime by adjusting the beam energy and the chemical potential of the BDSs. Our results could find potential applications in developing room temperature, tunable, coherent, and intense THz radiation sources to cover the entire THz band.     

Gap surface plasmon polaritons enhanced by a plasmonic lens

We numerically investigate the optical field enhancement based on gap surface plasmon polaritons (GSPPs) that are enhanced by propagating surface waves launched by a circular slit at a metal-dielectric interface. The optical field enhancement originates not only from multiple scattering and coupling of GSPPs in the spacer region between two metal layers but also from propagating surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) launched by a circular plasmonic lens. We find that the combination of the GSPPs and the propagating SPPs launched by the plasmonic lens can achieve extremely strong field confinement, and we find that the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancement factor can be up to 10(15) at the tip of the equilateral triangular nanostructures. The structure proposed here is expected to find promising applications where strong field enhancement is desired, such as optical sensing with the SERS effect.     

Effect of a thin dielectric layer on terahertz transmission characteristics for metal hole arrays

We studied the role of surface-plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in a bandpass transmission property of two-dimensional metal hole arrays (2D-MHAs) by investigating the effect of thin dielectric layers on the 2D-MHA surfaces. We measured zero-order transmission spectra of the 2D-MHAs by changing the thickness of the dielectric layer and found that the bandpass transmission peak shifted to the lower-frequency side with increasing layer thickness, owing to the change of the resonant frequency of the SPP. This result shows that SPPs play a crucial role in the transmission property of 2D-MHAs in the terahertz region.     

Nanofocusing of terahertz wave on conical metal wire waveguides

The nanofocusing of the terahertz (THz) radiation energy is studied. By using a conical metal nanowire waveguide, we focus the energy of the terahertz surface plasmon polaritons (THz SPPs) to several nanometers’ scale. Another interesting property of the THz SPPs propagation on the waveguide is that the peak electric field at the waveguide tip enhances many times. What is more, both the phase velocity and the attenuation coefficient versus the wire radius are obtained. The terahertz energy nanofocusing opens the way to observe terahertz propagating and imaging on the nanoscale.     

基底对亚波长金属双环结构太赫兹透射性质的影响

太赫兹波通过人工金属亚波长结构开口共振环(SRRs)可以产生共振吸收, 目前普遍采用LC振荡电路和线性振子模型来解释. 利用太赫兹时域光谱系统测得并无开口的亚波长金属双环和反双环结构阵列透射的太赫兹波, 结果仍然观察到在太赫兹透射谱中存在吸收峰. 分析得出此吸收峰的出现可以用线性振子模型解释. 此外, 研究发现若将此结构制作到石英基底上, 当以样品表面法线方向为轴旋转样品时其太赫兹透射时域波形和频谱均会随旋转角度出现明显的周期性变化, 而以硅为基底并不出现此现象. 本文将其原因归结为石英基底的双折射效应对亚波长金属双环结构太赫兹透射性质的影响. 本文主要目的是分析造成这种影响的物理过程.     

Terahertz surface plasmon-polariton propagation and focusing on periodically corrugated metal wires

In this Letter, we show how the dispersion relation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) propagating along a perfectly conducting wire can be tailored by corrugating its surface with a periodic array of radial grooves. In this way, highly localized SPPs can be sustained in the terahertz region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Importantly, the propagation characteristics of these spoof SPPs can be controlled by the surface geometry, opening the way to important applications such as energy concentration on cylindrical wires and superfocusing using conical structures.     

The excitation and emission of terahertz surface plasmon polaritons on metal wire waveguides

The development of effective techniques for guiding pulsed terahertz radiation is essential for the continued development of terahertz spectroscopy and imaging applications based on the technique of time-domain spectroscopy. Terahertz surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) can be excited and guided on cylindrical metal wires with low loss and dispersion. This propagating surface wave, known as a Sommerfeld wave, possesses radial polarization, which is not well matched with conventional sources of pulsed terahertz radiation. A photoconductive terahertz antenna with radial symmetry produces radiation that more efficiently couples to the wire waveguide. At the end of the wire, terahertz SPPs emit radiation into free-space that exhibits frequency-dependent diffraction. To cite this article: J.A. Deibel et al., C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

基于光导微探针的近场/远场可扫描太赫兹光谱技术

太赫兹技术已经成为涉及公共安全、军事国防和国民经济等国家核心利益的前沿研究领域.以往太赫兹测量技术中通常以远场测量为主,如常用的太赫兹时域光谱仪.近年来太赫兹近场技术得到了迅猛的发展,特别是基于光导天线的探针技术的发展,为可扫描的太赫兹近场测量提供了可能.本文详细报道了我们近期在可扫描太赫兹近场光谱仪研究中的进展.采用光纤耦合的光导微探针实现了方便灵活的太赫兹近场/远场三维扫描,并同时获得振幅和相位信息.该系统将有可能广泛应用于人工微结构、石墨烯、表面等离子激元、波导传输、近场成像、生物样品检测、芯片检测等研究领域.     

Terahertz surface plasmon polaritons in textured metal surfaces formed by square arrays of metallic pillars

In this paper, we investigate numerically the characteristics of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) sustained by two-dimensional arrays of metallic pillars protruding out of planar metal surfaces at terahertz (THz) frequencies. Various shapes of the pillars are analyzed, and it is shown that the pillar shape only has weak influence on the dispersion of spoof SPPs. However, the loss of spoof SPPs is closely dependent on the pillar shape. It is also shown that spoof SPPs on textured surfaces with pillars can exhibit much better confinement than those on pierced surfaces with holes.     

不同模态沙尘暴对太赫兹波的衰减分析

太赫兹波空间传输特性研究对于太赫兹波在空间中的应用具有重要意义.为研究太赫兹波在沙尘暴天气中的传输特性,本文根据沙尘粒子尺度的对数正态分布,应用Mie散射理论和Monte Carlo方法,分析了国内不同地域的六种干沙模态沙尘暴对1—10 THz频段太赫兹波的衰减特性,给出了消光参量和衰减率与频率的关系.结果表明,随着频率的增大,1—10 THz频段太赫兹波的衰减率呈先增加后减小的趋势,沙尘暴的模态不同,太赫兹波衰减较强的频段范围有所不同.为了分析沙粒含水量对太赫兹波传输衰减的影响,计算了不同尺寸的沙尘粒子3个效率因子与含水量的关系,发现粒子尺寸不同,含水量对消光的影响也不同;应用Monte Carlo方法计算了两种湿沙模态的沙尘暴对1—10 THz频段太赫兹波的衰减,给出了衰减率与含水量及频率的关系.结果表明,随沙粒含水量增大,沙尘暴对太赫兹波衰减较强的频段向低频方向移动,含水量小于5%时,太赫兹波衰减率随含水量增大显著增强,湿度较大的沙尘暴天气对太赫兹波的传输衰减影响更大.     

基于Kramers-Kronig关系建立金属太赫兹色散模型

提出了一种基于测量反射率谱、使用Kramers-Kronig(KK)关系建立金属太赫兹色散模型的方法.结合合金铝和合金铜4—40 THz的测量反射率谱,通过反射系数振幅和相位的KK关系,采用高频端指数外推,低频端常数外推的方法,反演金属复折射率.以KK反演的复折射率作为实验值,以拟合复折射率和实验值误差最小为准则,使用遗传优化算法,拟合了合金铝和合金铜的Drude色散参数(等离子频率和碰撞频率).基于优化的Drude模型计算了0.1—40 THz材料的复折射率,与椭偏仪的实测结果符合,验证了模型的准确性.该方法理论与实验相互验证,以测量的复折射率作为实验定标,将远红外频段的色散信息拓展到太赫兹频域,确定了太赫兹频段金属的微观物理参数,提供了太赫兹频段色散和散射机理的研究依据.     

Generation of terahertz radiation in cubic non-centrosymmetric crystals

The conditions of parametric radiation generation on polaritons in cubic noncentrosymmetric crystals are studied. The possibility of such generation is theoretically justified. The polariton radiation frequencies are calculated for GaP, ZnSe, ZnTe, and GaAs crystals. The obtained generation frequencies are compared to the experimental results on Raman scattering on polaritons. The block diagram of the terahertz radiation generator operation using a GaP crystal and a pulsed laser with high peak power at low energy of laser pump pulses is presented. The lasing frequency shift is analyzed depending on the scattering geometry. The coefficient of exciting radiation conversion to the terahertz range is determined.