Microelectromechanical systems bimaterial terahertz sensor with integrated metamaterial absorber

This Letter describes the fabrication of a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) bimaterial terahertz (THz) sensor operating at 3.8 THz. The incident THz radiation is absorbed by a metamaterial structure integrated with the bimaterial. The absorber was designed with a resonant frequency matching the quantum cascade laser illumination source while simultaneously providing structural support, desired thermomechanical properties and optical readout access. Measurement showed that the fabricated absorber has nearly 90% absorption at 3.8 THz. A responsivity of 0.1°/μW and a time constant of 14 ms were observed. The use of metamaterial absorbers allows for tuning the sensor response to the desired frequency to achieve high sensitivity for potential THz imaging applications.     

基于石墨烯振幅可调的宽带类电磁诱导透明超材料设计

基于石墨烯的电控特性提出了一种由金属线谐振器和"H"型谐振器组成的宽带可调的类电磁诱导透明(类EIT)超材料结构.首先,利用CST Microwave Studio软件对该超材料结构的透射特性进行了仿真.该结构在1.05—1.46 THz内的透射窗由金属线谐振器的等离子谐振和"H"型谐振器的电感-电容谐振干涉相消引起,且暗模式谐振器的数量增多导致了透射窗带宽的增加.其次,仿真模拟了该结构在不同石墨烯费米能级下的透射特性.当石墨烯费米能级由0 eV逐渐增加到1.5 eV时,该结构透射窗在1.05—1.46 THz内的平均透射振幅由87%逐渐减少到25%,实现了宽带可调.同时,通过仿真模拟该结构在1.26 THz下的电场分布对其透射机理进行了分析,并实验制备了类EIT超材料结构样品,且利用太赫兹时域光谱对样品进行了透射性能测试,测试结果与仿真分析的趋势基本一致.     

Bilayer-fish-scale ultrabroad terahertz bandpass filter

A bilayer fish-scale metamaterial is experimentally demonstrated to function as a broad bandpass filter in the terahertz regime. The measured 3 dB-bandwidth for normal incidence is 1.13 THz with a high transmittance. The measured transmission spectrum is described well by a model based on an RLC circuit and multiple reflections. The filter is relatively insensitive to incidence angles up to 45°.     

太赫兹波段表面等离子光子学研究进展

表面等离子光子学是研究金属、 半导体纳米结构材料独特的光学特性, 是目前光子学中最有吸引力、 发展最快的领域之一. 伴随着微/纳制造技术与计算机模拟技术的进步, 表面等离子光子学在可见光、 红外、 太赫兹以及微波频域得到了广泛研究, 在高灵敏生化传感、 亚波长光波导、 近场光学显微、 纳米光刻等领域有潜在的应用价值. 特别是人工超材料的发展, 为自然界长期缺乏响应太赫兹波的材料和器件奠定了基础, 从而也促进了太赫兹波段表面等离子光子学的研究. 本文从太赫兹表面等离子波的激发、 传导、 最新应用及未来发展趋势等几个方面进行了回顾和讨论, 将最新研究成果展示给读者.     

基于圆台结构的超宽带极化不敏感太赫兹吸收器

本文提出一种基于圆台形吸收单元的超宽带、极化不敏感的超材料太赫兹吸收器. 该超材料吸收器采用金属薄膜金和介质层二氧化硅交替叠加的多层结构. 采用商业软件CST Studio Suite 2009时域求解器计算了其在0–10 THz波段内的吸收率A（ω）,在2–10 THz之间实现了对入射太赫兹波的超宽频带强吸收. 仿真结果表明,由于其圆台形单元结构,在器件垂直方向上形成一系列不同尺寸的微型吸收器,产生了吸收频点相连的多频吸收峰. 利用不同吸收峰的耦合叠加效应,获得超过8 THz的超宽带太赫兹波吸收,吸收强度达到92.3%以上. 这一结构具有超宽带强吸收,360°极化不敏感以及易于加工等优越特性,因而在太赫兹波探测器、光谱成像以及隐身技术方面具有潜在的应用. 关键词： 太赫兹波 超材料吸收器 圆台结构 超宽带     

Enhanced circular dichroism based on the dual-chiral metamaterial in terahertz regime

The obvious circular dichroism(CD) and optical activity can be obtained based on the chiral metamaterial due to the plasmon-enhanced effect, which is very attractive for future compact devices with enhanced capabilities of light manipulation. In this paper, we propose a dual-chiral metamaterial composed of bilayer asymmetric split ring resonators(ASRR)that are in mirror-symmetry shape. It is demonstrated that the CD can get enhancement in the terahertz regime. Moreover,the CD can be further improved by modulating the asymmetry of ASRR. The enhanced CD effect in the terahertz regime has great potential applications in sensing, biomedical imaging, and molecular recognition.     

Giant optical activity and circular dichroism in the terahertz region based on bi-layer Y-shaped chiral metamaterial

We present a bi-layer Y-shaped chiral metamaterial (CMM) that can realize a giant optical activity and circular dichroism (CD) effect to the incident linear polarization wave in the terahertz (THz) region. Numerical simulation results exhibit that the pronounced CD effect with a great difference between the transmission coefficients for the circularly polarized waves can be obtained at 5.06 THz, meanwhile the 90°-polarization rotation can be observed at 5.2 THz when a y-polarized wave is incident to this CMM propagating along the −z-axis. The mechanism of the optical activity and giant CD effect is illustrated by simulated surface current distributions. Further, the influences of the structural parameters of the proposed CMM to the optical activity and CD effect have been investigated numerically.     

SU-8 based planar metamaterials with fourfold symmetry as selective terahertz absorbers

We report on the absorption properties of polarization-insensitive transmissive and reflective metamaterial absorbers based on two planar aluminium periodic structures and SU-8 epoxy resist. These absorbers were investigated using numerical simulation and experimental methods in the terahertz range (below 2 THz). SU-8 is a very promising organic material for dielectric layers in planar metamaterials, because its application simplifies the process of fabricating these structures and significantly reduces the fabrication time. The experimental absorption of the metamaterial absorbers has narrowband characteristics that were consistent with the numerical simulations. Power flow analysis in the transmissive metamaterial unit cell shows that the absorption in the terahertz range occurs primarily in the SU-8 layer of the absorber.     

A terahertz polarization insensitive dual band metamaterial absorber

Metamaterial absorbers have attracted considerable attention for applications in the terahertz range. In this Letter, we report the design, fabrication, and characterization of a terahertz dual band metamaterial absorber that shows two distinct absorption peaks with high absorption. By manipulating the periodic patterned structures as well as the dielectric layer thickness of the metal-dielectric-metal structure, significantly high absorption can be obtained at specific resonance frequencies. Finite-difference time-domain modeling is used to design the structure of the absorber. The fabricated devices have been characterized using a Fourier transform IR spectrometer. The experimental results show two distinct absorption peaks at 2.7 and 5.2?THz, which are in good agreement with the simulation. The absorption magnitudes at 2.7 and 5.2?THz are 0.68 and 0.74, respectively.     

Transient optical modulation properties in the terahertz metamaterial of split ring resonators

The ultrafast optical modulation properties of split ring resonators are characterized by utilizing optical pump-terahertz probe spectroscopy.The experimental results show that when the terahertz electric vector is perpendicular to the gap of the split ring resonator,resonant absorption can be quenched significantly under high pump excitation.However,when the terahertz electric vector is parallel to the gap,the resonant absorption is less sensitive to pump excitation due to the structural properties of the metamaterial.Our numerical simulations also demonstrate that the pump pulse significantly influences the split ring resonator current by generating carriers in the substrate.     

表面粗糙样品的太赫兹光谱参数提取方法研究

很多物质在太赫兹波段内的光谱参数具有指纹特征,这是太赫兹技术在安检等众多领域有所应用的基础.但是,目前常用的太赫兹时域光谱(THz-TDS)技术提取物质光学参数的Duvillaret算法,要求样品上下表面平行且充分光滑.然而在很多有潜力的实际应用场合中,尤其是对于固体样品,表面粗糙度不可避免,并且不能使用模具压片等实验...     

Multi-band terahertz two-handed metamaterial based on the combined ring and cross pairs

We present the design of a Multiband two-handed metamaterial (MM) with the composite structure combined ring and cross pairs (RP + CP) in the terahertz regime. The dual-band left-handed and single-band right-handed transmission properties of this composite structure were explored by the FDTD method. The MM exhibits left-handed and right-handed transmission pass bands around the frequencies of 0.43 THz, 1.32 THz and 0.85 THz for the terahertz electromagnetic (EM) wave normal incidence, respectively. The surface currents distributions are demonstrated to discuss the physical mechanism of the left-handed properties of the proposed MM. The retrieved equivalent EM parameters and the refraction phenomenon based on a wedge-shaped model verify the left-handed properties. Furthermore, the dual-band left-handed transmission properties of RP + CP structure can be tunable individually by changing the structural parameters. The presented design of terahertz two-handed MM offers a flexibility for investigation of their novel EM properties, and important terahertz device applications.     

亚波长金属块阵列中太赫兹波的传输特性研究

利用太赫兹时域光谱技术,研究了亚波长金属块阵列的太赫兹透射光谱特性及金属阵列结构的周期、金属块尺寸等因素对太赫兹透射特性的影响.结合时域有限差分方法,对实验结果进行了数值模拟,并分析了影响太赫兹透射的因素.结果表明:亚波长金属块阵列结构中,THz波的透射极小的位置由金属块的尺寸和周期决定,其透射谷的半高宽随其周期的增大而减小;透射峰值的位置由阵列的周期结构决定,其频率随周期的增加而减小;亚波长金属块结构的透射极小来源于金属块表面局域化电场等离子体的本征频率反射,该局域化电场与金属块结构密切相关,通过改变金属块结构,可以改变其表面电场分布与局域化.研究结果为研制太赫兹波段带阻滤波器提供了有益的参考.     

低浓度吡虫啉的超材料太赫兹光谱检测研究

农产品质量安全是社会广泛关注的重大民生问题。近年来,农产品生产过程中农药的广泛使用和滥用会导致农药残留,对人类健康和环境造成潜在危害。吡虫啉是一种硝基亚甲基类新烟碱内吸杀虫剂,因其具有广谱、高效和低毒的特性已广泛用于农业生产中,但其过量残留也给人类的健康带来了威胁。首先对超材料结构的透射谱进行了分析,对共振频率的形成原因进行了解释;其次分别在超材料结构和二氧化硅基底上涂覆了500 mg·L-1的吡虫啉溶液并进行了测量,排除了二氧化硅基底的影响;接着制备了3个梯度15个浓度的吡虫啉溶液,分别为：100~500 mg·L-1（梯度为100 mg·L-1）、10~50 mg·L-1（梯度为10 mg·L-1）、1~5 mg·L-1（梯度为1 mg·L-1）;测量了喷涂在超材料结构上的吡虫啉薄膜的太赫兹时域光谱,根据太赫兹透射谱峰值频率红移量的不同实现了对不同溶液浓度的鉴别,建立了峰值频率红移量和吡虫啉浓度的函数关系。实验结果表明,借助超材料的调制特性,太赫兹光谱法可以检测到浓度低至1 mg·L-1的吡虫啉薄膜。将实验测得的不同浓度吡虫啉溶液的折射率,代入CST软件进行仿真验证,结果说明不同浓度的吡虫啉的透射曲线具有不同程度的红移,且红移量随着浓度的增大而增加。实验和仿真结果表明,超材料对太赫兹光谱透射峰值频率的调制可用于低浓度吡虫啉含量的太赫兹时域光谱检测。此研究为食品基质中农药残留的检测提供了一种新方法。     

亚波长金属块阵列中太赫兹波的传输特性研究

利用太赫兹时域光谱技术,研究了亚波长金属块阵列的太赫兹透射光谱特性及金属阵列结构的周期、金属块尺寸等因素对太赫兹透射特性的影响.结合时域有限差分方法,对实验结果进行了数值模拟,并分析了影响太赫兹透射的因素.结果表明:亚波长金属块阵列结构中,THz波的透射极小的位置由金属块的尺寸和周期决定,其透射谷的半高宽随其周期的增大而减小;透射峰值的位置由阵列的周期结构决定,其频率随周期的增加而减小;亚波长金属块结构的透射极小来源于金属块表面局域化电场等离子体的本征频率反射,该局域化电场与金属块结构密切相关,通过改变金属块结构,可以改变其表面电场分布与局域化.研究结果为研制太赫兹波段带阻滤波器提供了有益的参考.     

Terahertz wave modulator based on optically controllable metamaterial

We demonstrated experimentally a terahertz wave modulator based on optically controlled metamaterial. The signal modulation mechanism of the presented terahertz wave modulator was based on the resonance characteristic of metamaterial controlled without or with light excitation. A modulated semiconductor laser with 808 nm wavelength was employed to light the substrate. The interaction between the metamaterial and terahertz wave was strengthened and yielded an appreciable modulation of the terahertz output beam. The modulation speed is 0.1 Kb/s and the modulation depth of the proposed terahertz modulator is about 57% at a frequency of 0.32 THz.     

Tunable electromagnetically induced transparency at terahertz frequencies in coupled graphene metamaterial

A graphene-based metamaterial with tunable electromagnetically induced transparency(EIT)-like transmission is numerically studied in this paper. The proposed structure consists of a graphene layer composed of coupled cut-wire pairs printed on a substrate. The simulation confirms that an EIT-like transparency window can be observed due to indirect coupling in a terahertz frequency range. More importantly, the peak frequency of the transmission window can be dynamically controlled over a broad frequency range by varying the Fermi energy levels of the graphene layer through controlling the electrostatic gating. The proposed metamaterial structure offers an additional opportunity to design novel applications such as switches or modulators.     

Numerical simulations of terahertz double-negative metamaterial with isotropic-like fishnet structure

The isotropic-like fishnet metamaterial with an array of cross-shaped holes penetrating through the multiple layers has been numerically studied in the terahertz regime. Its left-handed properties are described by the retrieved effect media parameters and validated by the simulation of a wedge-shaped model. The influences of the various geometrical parameters on the electromagnetic response and the left-handed performance are investigated. This isotropic-like fishnet metamaterial has the advantage of lower losses and higher transmission and holds potential for further applications at higher frequencies.     

Dual-band asymmetric electromagnetic wave transmission for dual polarizations in chiral metamaterial structure

In this paper, we propose a chiral metamaterial structure that enables dual-band asymmetric transmission effect for different linearly polarized electromagnetic waves. The metamaterial is composed of metallic spirals with two split-ring resonators sandwiching a dielectric slab and connecting with via hole. Strong one-way transmission of two orthogonally polarized waves at different frequency bands has been confirmed through both full-wave simulation and test on fabricated prototype at the microwave band. Analysis also shows such asymmetric transmission can be attributed to the induced asymmetric current distributions in the spiral that support strong polarization conversion and cross-polarization transmission. By scaling down the metamaterial structure, the concept could also be utilized at other frequency bands, such as submillimeter or even terahertz band and find applications in designing one-way electromagnetic wave devices or polarization spectral filters.