An ultrathin terahertz quarter-wave plate using planar babinet-inverted metasurface

Multifunctional Intelligent Reconfigurable Metasurface

The emergent reconfigurable metasurfaces (RMs) have attracted a lot of attention due to their potential in broad applications. As a general platform, RMs are able to control the reflection (or refraction) of incident waves with predefined functionalities. Nevertheless, the operation of RMs is highly dependent on the arrival direction of incidence. The self-adaptive design of an RM, so that it can respond to varied incident waves automatically, is highly requested in practical implementation, which is actually challenging. This study reports the realization of an intelligent RM (IRM) system, which can detect the arrival direction of impinging waves and respond to the incidence with a predefined functionality accordingly. This IRM system is constructed by integrating a direction of the arrival estimation module, a frontend by the varactor-based metasurface, and a central control unit. In experiments, an IRM system designed for TM polarization is demonstrated to perform various functions, i.e., retroreflection, directional reflection, and fixed-point energy focusing, which are highly requested by edge communication and sensing. The measured results imply that this IRM system responds quite well within a wide incident range from -60° to 60° in a frequency range from 9 to 9.5 GHz. The proposed IRM can be a good candidate for boosting 5G communication and Internet of Things applications, including beam shaping/steering, RCS manipulation, object imaging, and sensor recharging.

Multifunctional terahertz metamaterial based on vanadium dioxide and silicon

This paper proposes a multifunctional metamaterial device operating in the terahertz (THz) band. The metamaterial device can switch functions by using the phase transition properties of vanadium dioxide (V O ₂) and the photoconductive effect of silicon. An intermediate metal layer divides the device into the I side and II side. When V O ₂ is in the insulating state, the I side can achieve polarization conversion from linear polarization waves to linear polarization waves at 0.408-0.970 THz. When V O ₂ is in the metal-like state, the I side can perform polarization conversion from linear polarization waves to circular polarization waves at 0.469-1.127 THz. When silicon is not excited in the absence of light, the II side can perform polarization conversion from linear polarization waves to linear polarization waves at 0.799-1.336 THz. As the light intensity increases, the II side can realize stable broadband absorption at 0.697-1.483 THz when silicon is in the conductive state. The device can be applied to wireless communications, electromagnetic stealth, THz modulation, THz sensing, and THz imaging. Moreover, it provides a fresh idea for the design of multifunctional metamaterial devices.

Inverse design of polarization conversion metasurfaces by deep neural networks

To address the problem of multiple solutions and improve the calculating speed, we construct a tandem architecture consisting of a forward modeling network and an inverse design network. Using this combined network, we inversely design the circular polarization converter and analyze the effect of different design parameters on the prediction accuracy of the polarization conversion rate. The average mean square error of the circular polarization converter is 0.00121 at an average prediction time of 1.56×10^-2 s. If only the forward modeling process is considered, it takes 6.15×10^-4 s, which is 2.1×10⁵ times faster than that using the traditional numerical full-wave simulation method. By slightly resizing the network input and output layers, the network is adaptable to the design of both the linear cross-polarization and linear-to-circular polarization converters.

Shape dependence of all-dielectric terahertz metasurface

All-dielectric metasurfaces have been attracting attention in the terahertz spectral range for low-loss planar optical elements such as lenses, beam splitters, waveplates, vortex plates, and magnetic mirrors. Various shapes of meta-atoms have been used in many studies; however, no systematic comparative study of each shape has been reported. The optical properties of various shapes of metasurfaces are reported in this work using finite difference time domain simulation. The phase of a pillar-type all-dielectric metasurface is mainly determined by the cross-sectional area, rather than its detailed shape. Consequently, in the square lattice geometry, the square shape meta-atom performs best in terms of full phase control at the lowest pillar height with negligible polarization dependence. Furthermore, we compare the transmission, phase, and polarization dependence of the hexagonal and square lattices. Square-shape metasurface successfully realizes subwavelength focusing metalens and vortex plate.

Full-space dual-helicity decoupled metasurface for a high-efficiency multi-folded reflective antenna

The independent tailoring of electromagnetic waves with different circular-polarized (CP) wavefront in both reflection and transmission channels is of broad scientific and technical interest, offering ultimate degrees of freedom in designing advanced devices with the merits of functionality integration and spatial exploitation. However, most metasurfaces only provide dependent wavefront control of dual-helicity in a single channel, restricting their applications to limited practical scenarios. Herein, we propose a full-space dual-helicity decoupled metasurface and apply it to assemble a multi-folded reflective antenna (MFRA) in the microwave regime. A multilayered chiral meta-atom is designed and optimized to reflect a particular helical wave while allowing the orthogonal helical wave to penetrate through, with simultaneous full span of phase modulations in both channels. When a uniform reflection and a hyperbolic transmission phase profile is imposed simultaneously on the metasurface in a polarization-selective manner, it can be engineered to conduct specular reflection for one helical wave and convergent transmission of the other helical wave. Combining the proposed metasurface with a metallic plate as a bottom reflector and an integrated microstrip patch antenna in the center of metasurface as a feed, a MFRA is realized with a low profile, high efficiency, and high polarization purity in a broad frequency band. The proposed design method of the dual-helicity decoupled metasurface and its antenna application provide opportunities for high-performance functional devices, promising more potential in future communication and detection systems.

Transmissive Polarizer Metasurfaces: From Microwave to Optical Regimes

Metasurfaces, a special class of metamaterials, have recently become a rapidly growing field, particularly for thin polarization converters. They can be fabricated using a simple fabrication process due to their smaller planar profile, both in the microwave and optical regimes. In this paper, the recent progress in MSs for linear polarization (LP) to circular polarization (CP) conversion in transmission mode is reviewed. Starting from history, modeling and the theory of MSs, uncontrollable single and multiple bands and LP-to-CP conversions, are discussed and analyzed. Moreover, detailed reconfigurable MS-based LP-to-CP converters are presented. Further, key findings on the state-of-the-arts are discussed and tabulated to give readers a quick overview. Finally, a conclusion is drawn by providing opinions on future developments in this growing research field.

Angular-Adaptive Reconfigurable Spin-Locked Metasurface Retroreflector

Metasurface retroreflectors, which scatter the incident electromagnetic wave back to incoming direction, have received significant attention due to their compelling advantages of low profile and light weight compared with conventional bulky retroreflection devices. However, the current metasurface retroreflectors still have limitations in wide-angle and omnidirectional operations. This work proposes a high-efficiency, wide-angle, reconfigurable, and omnidirectional retroreflector composed of spin-locked phase gradient metasurface with a thickness of only 5.2 mm or 0.07 operating wavelength. The reflection phase of constituent meta-atoms can be controlled dynamically and continuously by altering their orientation states through individually addressing each mechanically rotational meta-atom, whereas the reflection handedness is kept the same as incidence. Therefore, adaptive and arbitrary momentum can be imparted to the incident wave, providing high-efficiency retroreflection over a wide continuous range from -47° to 47°. Moreover, such high-performance retroreflection is extended to omnidirectional level, enabling great degrees of freedom that are unavailable by previous researches. As a proof of concept, a retroreflective metasurface is fabricated and experimentally demonstrated at microwave frequencies. The proposed thin thickness, high efficiency, and reconfigurable metasurface retroreflector can be extended to other frequencies that may offer an untapped platform toward reconfigurable spin-based retroreflection devices for electromagnetic signal processing.

Complete Terahertz Polarization Control with Broadened Bandwidth via Dielectric Metasurfaces

We demonstrate terahertz dielectric metasurfaces with anisotropic multipoles within the framework of the generalized Huygens principle, in which the interference among these multipoles achieves giant phase shift with broadened bandwidth and high transmission coefficients. More importantly, owing to the anisotropic design, various phase delays between π/2 and 3π/2 are obtained, which convert the incident linearly polarized terahertz wave into right/left-handed circularly polarized light, elliptically polarized light and cross-polarized light. Both simulation and experimental results verify complete terahertz polarization control with the ellipticity ranging from 1 to - 1, which paves a way for polarization-related applications of terahertz meta-devices.

Tunable Transmissive Terahertz Linear Polarizer for Arbitrary Linear Incidence Based on Low-Dimensional Metamaterials

In this work, we propose a structure consisting of three metamaterial layers and a metallic grating layer to rotate the polarization of arbitrary linearly polarized incidence to the y-direction with high transmissivity by electrically tuning these metamaterials. The transfer matrix method together with a harmonic oscillator model is adopted to theoretically study the proposed structure. Numerical simulation based on the finite difference time-domain method is performed assuming that the metamaterial layers are constituted by graphene ribbon arrays. The calculation and simulation results show that the Drude absorption is responsible for the polarization rotation. Fermi level and scattering rate of graphene are important for the transmissivity. For a polarization rotation of around 90°, the thickness of either the upper or lower dielectric separations influences the transmission window. For a polarization rotation of around 45° and 135°, the lower dielectric separations decide the frequency of the transmission window, while the upper dielectric separations just slightly influence the transmissivity.

Temperature-controlled terahertz polarization conversion bandwidth

Active control of metasurfaces has attracted widespread attention because of the adjustable electromagnetic properties obtained. Here we designed and experimentally studied a dynamically controllable polarization converter in the terahertz band. By designing the structural parameters and utilizing the insulator-to-metal phase transition of vanadium dioxide and principle of current resonance, dynamic tunability of the polarization conversion function from dual-broadband (0.45∼0.77 THz and 0.97∼1.2 THz) to ultra-broadband (0.38∼1.20 THz) can be realized with a high polarization conversion ratio. The scheme proposed here can find potential applications in integrated terahertz systems, sensing, imaging and communications areas.

A dual band spin-selective transmission metasurface and its wavefront manipulation

Chiral metasurfaces which can achieve different optical responses for left-handed and right-handed circularly polarized (CP) light have been proposed. Most of the research studies on chiral metasurfaces focus on improving circular dichroism (CD) and realizing dynamic manipulation of the chiro-optical response. However, there have only been a few reports on the multi-band chiro-optical response. Here, we propose an all-silicon chiral meta-atom which can realize spin-selective transmission in a dual band. In addition, a terahertz metasurface with spin-selective transmission through phase arrangement is designed by using chiral meta-atoms satisfying a gradient geometric phase. Under left-hand circularly polarized (LCP) incidence, the metasurface generates a focused right-hand circularly polarized (RCP) beam which is focused at a distance of 4.8 mm from the exit surface of the metasurface. Our work broadens the concept of metasurface design and may attract more researchers' attention on the applications of chiral metasurfaces.

Reflective Quasi-Continuous Metasurface with Continuous Phase Control for Light Focusing

Benefitting from the arbitrary and flexible light modulation, metasurface has attracted extensive attention and been demonstrated in different applications. However, most reported metasurface-based devices were normally composed of discrete micro or nano structures, therefore the discretization precision limited the performance of the device, including the focusing efficiency, stray light suppression, and broadband performance. In this work, an all-metallic reflective metasurface consisting of numerous quasi-continuous nanostructures is proposed to realize high-efficiency and broadband focusing. The constructed quasi-continuous metasurface (QCMS) is then verified numerically through electromagnetic simulation, and the numerical results show a higher focusing efficiency and a better stray light suppression effect, compared to a binary-phase-based metalens. Through the same design strategy, a QCMS with the ability to overcome the diffraction limit can also be constructed, and a focal spot with the size of 0.8 times the diffraction limit can be achieved. We expect that this quasi-continuous structure could be utilized to construct other high-performance devices that require continuous phase controls, such as the beam deflector, orbital angle momentum generator, and self-accelerating beam generator.

Terahertz Broadband Polarization Conversion for Transmitted Waves Based on Graphene Plasmon Resonances

We applied the harmonic oscillator model combined with the transfer matrix method to study the polarization conversion for transmitted waves in metallic grating/plasmon-excitation layer/metallic grating structure in the terahertz (THz) region. By comparing the calculated spectra and the simulated (by the finite-difference-time-domain method) ones, we found that they correspond well with each other. Both methods show that the Drude background absorption and the excited plasmon resonances are responsible for polarization conversion. The transmission is close to 0 when the distance between the top/bottom metallic gratings and gated graphene is an integer multiple of half the wavelength of the incident wave (in the dielectrics), at which points the plasmon resonances are greatly suppressed by the destructive interference between the backward/forward electromagnetic waves and that reflected by the top/bottom metallic gratings. Away from these points, the transmission can be higher than 80%. The electron density and the excitation efficiency of the plasmon-excitation layer were found to be important for the bandwidth of the polarization conversion window, while the scattering rate was found to influence mainly the polarization conversion rate. Multi-broadband polarization conversion is realized by exciting plasmon modes between the 0 transmission points in the THz region.

Nanoantenna enhanced terahertz interaction of biomolecules

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) is a non-invasive, non-contact and label-free technique for biological and chemical sensing as THz-spectra are less energetic and lie in the characteristic vibration frequency regime of proteins and DNA molecules. However, THz-TDS is less sensitive for the detection of micro-organisms of size equal to or less than λ/100 (where, λ is the wavelength of the incident THz wave), and molecules in extremely low concentration solutions (like, a few femtomolar). After successful high-throughput fabrication of nanostructures, nanoantennas were found to be indispensable in enhancing the sensitivity of conventional THz-TDS. These nanostructures lead to strong THz field enhancement when in resonance with the absorption spectrum of absorptive molecules, causing significant changes in the magnitude of the transmission spectrum, therefore, enhancing the sensitivity and allowing the detection of molecules and biomaterials in extremely low concentration solutions. Herein, we review the recent developments in ultra-sensitive and selective nanogap biosensors. We have also provided an in-depth review of various high-throughput nanofabrication techniques. We also discussed the physics behind the field enhancements in the sub-skin depth as well as sub-nanometer sized nanogaps. We introduce finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation tools to study THz biomolecular interactions. Finally, we provide a comprehensive account of nanoantenna enhanced sensing of viruses (like, H1N1) and biomolecules such as artificial sweeteners which are addictive and carcinogenic.

Constructing multifunctional wave plates with stereo-metastructure arrays

Driven by the development of nanophotonics and integrated optics, manipulating polarization of light with metastructures has been extensively studied in recent decades. So far there is still a high demand for more efficient ways to control the polarization state of light with extraordinary performance. In this Letter, we report on constructing multifunctional wave plates with stereo-metastructure arrays (SMAs) by two-photon absorption polymerization. In one frequency range, the SMA can turn the polarization direction of incident linearly polarized (LP) light to its orthogonal direction, acting as a half-wave plate (HWP). In the other frequency range, it converts the LP incident light to circularly polarized (CP) light, acting as a quarter-wave plate (QWP). Such a multifunctional element is expected to possess an energy efficiency as high as 75%. By encoding SMAs with different rotation angles at different spatial areas, we show that SMAs can be applied in imaging and sensing, where the focal-plane-array (FPA) imaging demonstrates patterned contrast following different structural distribution.

Linear and circular-polarization conversion in X-band using anisotropic metasurface

An ultrathin single-layer metasurface manifesting both linear cross-polarization conversion (CPC) and linear-to-circular polarization (LP-to-CP) conversion in X-band is presented in this research. The designed metasurface acts as a multifunctional metasurface achieving CPC over a fractional bandwidth of 31.6% (8–11 GHz) with more than 95% efficiency while linear-to-circular polarization conversion is realized over two frequency bands from 7.5–7.7 GHz and 11.5–11.9 GHz. Moreover, the overall optimized structure of the unit cell results in a stable polarization transformation against changes in the incidence angle up to 45° both for transverse-electric (TE) and transverse-magnetic (TM) polarizations. The proposed metasurface with simple structure, compact size, angular stability and multifunctional capability qualifies for many applications in communication and polarization manipulating devices.

High-efficiency, broadband, and wide-angle all-dielectric quarter wave plate based on anisotropic electric and magnetic dipole resonances

Metadevices based on dielectric nanostructure with excitation of electric and magnetic resonances have shown high efficiency for polarization control compared with conventional manipulation methods, as well as plasmonic structure metadevices. Since both the electric and magnetic dipole (MD) resonances can be precisely adjusted by optimizing geometric parameters of the resonators to meet the desired wavelength, this paper proposes an approach to implement the high transmittance metadevices operating at preferred wavelengths. By employing this method, we demonstrate an all-dielectric quarter wave plate (QWP) metasurface with high transmittance (>85%) and high polarization conversion efficiency (>0.88) in a broad telecom waveband. At the same time, conversion efficiency is nearly unaffected for incident angles within 75°. With features of high transmittance, wide angle, and invertible linear to circular polarization conversion, the all dielectric QWP can be a good replacement for plasmonic metasurface devices and offers a further step in developing polarization and phase manipulation metadevices.

Terahertz transmission imaging of inhomogeneous polymer multilayers: theory and experiment

We extend an interferential multilayer model used in optics in the terahertz domain to be able to simulate the mapping of the transmissivity of a multilayer structure of polymers. In particular, we are interested in extracting the thickness gradient of a glue layer within an assembly of polymers. We developed an iterative procedure which we validated by terahertz imaging.

Ultra-broadband terahertz absorption using bi-metasurfaces based multiplexed resonances

In this paper, we demonstrate an ultra-broadband terahertz (THz) bi-metasurfaces absorber composed of two stacking metasurfaces backed by a metallic ground plane. The bottom metasurface consists of four multiplexed cross resonators with different geometries on a thin parylene layer, achieving a bandwidth of 3.80 THz with the absorption higher than 50% at high frequency. Meanwhile, the top metasurface, including two multiplexed cross resonators with different sizes on a relatively thicker parylene layer, provides a low frequency absorption band with an additional Salisbury screen absorption peak that connects the two absorption bands of the two metasurfaces, therefore enabling an ultra-broadband absorption. The experimental absorption spectrum of the bi-metasurfaces shows a bandwidth of 4.46 THz while the absorption exceeding 50% and a full width at half maxima (FWHM) of 97.7%. The ultra-broadband absorber will be a promising candidate for THz broadband detection.

Metalenses Based on Symmetric Slab Waveguide and c-TiO₂: Efficient Polarization-Insensitive Focusing at Visible Wavelengths

A key goal of metalens research is to achieve wavefront shaping of light using optical elements with thicknesses on the order of the wavelength. Here we demonstrate ultrathin highly efficient crystalline titanium dioxide metalenses at blue, green, and red wavelengths (λ₀ = 453 nm, 532 nm, and 633 nm, respectively) based on symmetric slab waveguide theory. These metalenses are less than 488 nm-thick and capable of focusing incident light into very symmetric diffraction-limited spots with strehl ratio and efficiency as high as 0.96 and 83%, respectively. Further quantitative characterizations about metalenses' peak focusing intensities and focal spot sizes show good agreement with theoretical calculation. Besides, the metalenses suffer only about 10% chromatic deviation from the ideal spots in visible spectrum. In contrast with Pancharatnam⁻Berry phase mechanism, which limit their incident light at circular polarization, the proposed method enables metalenses polarization-insensitive to incident light.

Wide-angle optical half-wave plate from the field transformation approach and form-birefringence theory

In this paper, we theoretically design and analyse a wide-angle optical half-wave plate by combining the field transformation (FT) approach with the form-birefringence theory. The FT method is a general approach to manipulate electromagnetic wave propagations from pre-defined boundary conditions and artificial media by design. In theory, the approach is valid for both parallel and perpendicular polarizations. In practice, the resulting medium can be mimicked by a form-birefringent structure which has the same dispersion properties for a wide range of incident angles. A proof concept design for optical half-wave plate is designed for near-infrared operations. The transmittance of proposed device is greater than 0.8 with a polarized state change under 75° oblique incidence.

Circular-polarization-sensitive absorption in refractory metamaterials composed of molybdenum zigzag arrays

Circularly polarized light (CPL) is utilized in various fields, including optical communication and biological imaging. To overcome the lack of circular-polarization-sensitive absorbers working at high temperature, a refractory and circular-polarization-sensitive absorber comprised of molybdenum zigzag arrays is proposed. At certain resonant wavelengths, one component of circular polarization is absorbed by confining electromagnetic field in the dielectric layer, while the other component is backscattered. The circular-polarization-sensitive absorber could be applied as a CPL thermal radiator as well as a reflective linear-to-circular polarizer. As a CPL thermal radiator, left-handed circular radiation and right-handed circular radiation are dominant at different temperatures, respectively. As a linear-to-circular polarizer, both perfect left-handed circularly polarized light and nearly perfect right-handed circularly polarized light are obtained.

Off-resonance and in-resonance metamaterial design for a high-transmission terahertz-wave quarter-wave plate

This Letter describes a novel metamaterial design by employing off-resonance and in-resonance excitation for a high-transmission terahertz-wave quarter-wave plate (QWP). The device is demonstrated with a thin film metamaterial with double-layer split ring resonators (SRRs). Different from a usual resonant metamaterial device, here we design the work frequency off from the inductor-capacitor (LC) resonance for the TE mode, while in a dipole resonance for the TM mode to obtain the artificial birefringence. Rectangular SRRs in this Letter provide a choice to optimize the off-resonance and in-resonance excitation, to assist the double-layer design for high transmission. Converting a linearly polarized wave to circular polarization with our QWP, the experiment confirms a transmittance of 0.8 and an ellipticity of 0.99 at 0.98 THz. The developed thin film device is flexible and has a thickness of 48 μm (sub-wavelength). This is an advantage for potential integration in systems where overall device compactness is required.

Dielectric-resonator metasurfaces for broadband terahertz quarter- and half-wave mirrors

Polarization conversion of terahertz waves is important for applications in imaging and communications. Conventional wave plates used for polarization conversion are inherently bulky and operate at discrete wavelengths. As a substitute, we employ reflective metasurfaces composed of subwavelength resonators to obtain similar functionality but with enhanced performance. More specifically, we demonstrate low-order dielectric resonators in place of commonly used planar metallic resonators to achieve high radiation efficiencies. As a demonstration of the concept, we present firstly, a quarter-wave mirror that converts 45° incident linearly polarized waves into circularly polarized waves. Next, we present a half-wave mirror that preserves the handedness of circularly polarized waves upon reflection, and in addition, rotates linearly polarized waves by 90° upon reflection. Both metasurfaces operate with high efficiency over a measurable relative bandwidth of 49% for the quarter-wave mirror and 53% for the half-wave mirror. This broadband and high efficiency capabilities of our metasurfaces will allow to leverage maximum benefits from a vast terahertz bandwidth.

Vanadium dioxide based frequency tunable metasurface filters for realizing reconfigurable terahertz optical phase and polarization control

Metasurfaces are two dimensional arrays of artificial subwavelength resonators, which can manipulate the amplitude and phase profile of incident electromagnetic fields. To date, limited progress has been achieved in realizing reconfigurable phase control of incident waves using metasurfaces. Here, an active metasurface is presented, whose resonance frequency can be tuned by employing insulator to metal transition in vanadium dioxide. By virtue of the phase jump accompanied by the resonance frequency tuning, the proposed metasurface acts as a phase shifter at THz frequency. It is further demonstrated that by appropriately tailoring the anisotropy of the metasurface, the observed phase shift can be used to switch the transmitted polarization from circular to approximately linear. This work thus shows potential for reconfigurable phase and polarization control at THz frequencies using vanadium dioxide based frequency tunable metasurfaces.

Terahertz spectrum splitting by a graphene-covered array of rectangular grooves

We propose a bidirectional terahertz (THz) spectrum splitter using a practically simple metamaterial structure consisting of rectangular grooves covered by graphene. Thanks to the graphene optoelectronic tunability and by adjusting the grooves width, this structure provides nearly 2π phase shift. At the same time, the reflection efficiency is acceptable throughout the phase shifts. We design each of the meta-atoms using a circuit model, and then we synthesize the final supercell based on the generalized Snell's law so that the structure reflects different frequency waves to totally different directions. The full-wave simulations demonstrate the beam splitting with a remarkable efficiency of around 80%.

Simultaneous quarter-wave plate and half-mirror operation through a highly flexible single layer anisotropic metasurface

A highly flexible single-layer metasurface manifesting quarter-wave plate as well as half-mirror (1:1 beam-splitter) operation in the microwave frequency regime is being presented in this research. The designed metasurface reflects half power of the impinging linearly polarized electromagnetic wave as circularly polarized wave while the remaining half power is transmitted as circularly polarized wave at resonance frequency. Similarly, a circularly polarized incident wave is reflected and transmitted as linearly polarized wave with equal half powers. Moreover, the response of the metasurface is quite stable against the variations in the incidence angle up to 45°. The measurements performed on the fabricated prototype exhibit a good agreement with the simulation results. The compact size, flexible structure, angular stability and two in one operation (operating as a quarter-wave plate and beam-splitter at the same time) are the main characteristics of the subject metasurface that makes it a potential candidate for numerous applications in communication and miniaturized and conformal polarization control devices.

Transmissive terahertz metalens with full phase control based on a dielectric metasurface

In this paper, we report a transmissive terahertz (THz) metalens based on a dielectric metasurface that consists of periodically arranged sub-wavelength silicon cross resonators with a spatially hyperboloidal phase profile. By varying arm lengths of the cross resonators, we obtained a full 2π phase coverage with high transmission at target frequency. The fabricated metalens was experimentally demonstrated to focus a continuous THz beam to a spot with a full width at half-maximum of 630 μm at a focal length of 28 mm, which agrees well with the theoretical calculation. This device has potential for applications in THz imaging and communications, and our work can also easily be extended in the design of other planar THz components, such as beam deflectors or vortex plates.

Broadband polarization conversion with anisotropic plasmonic metasurfaces

Metasurfaces offer exciting opportunities that enable precise control of light propagation, optical intensity, phase and polarization. Plasmonic metasurface based quarter-wave plates have been recently studied to realize the conversion between linear polarization and circular polarization. However, it is still quite challenging to directly measure the birefringent phase retardation introduced by metasurface wave plates with a reliable technique. Here, we report a high-performance broadband metasurface quarter-wave plate made of anisotropic T-shaped plasmonic antennas in near-infrared wavelength range, where the achromatic nearly 90° transmitted phase retardation through the metasurface is precisely characterized with an optical vortex based interferometric approach. Based on the measured transmission amplitude and phase of two orthogonal linear polarization components, nearly unit degree of linear polarization is extracted from the Stokes parameters, indicating excellent broadband polarization conversion between linearly and circularly polarized light through the metasurface. Our results will be an important step forward in the advancement of integrated metasurface devices for polarization conversion and beam manipulation, structured light control, as well as new spectroscopic and interferometric techniques for metasurface characterization.

Terahertz artificial birefringence and tunable phase shifter based on dielectric metasurface with compound lattice

A dielectric metasurface with line-square compound lattice structure has been fabricated and demonstrated in the terahertz (THz) regime by the THz time-domain spectroscopy and numerical simulation. A polarization dependent electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect is achieved in this metasurface due to the mode coupling and interference between the resonance modes in line and square subunits of the metasurface. Accompany with the EIT effect, a large artificial birefringence effect between two orthogonal polarization states is also observed in this compound metasurface, of which birefringence is over 0.6. Furthermore, the liquid crystals are filled on the surface of this dielectric metasurface to fabricate an electrically tunable THz LC phase shifter. The experimental results show that its tunable phase shift under the biased electric field reaches 0.33π, 1.8 times higher than the bare silicon, which confirms the enhancement role of THz microstructure on the LC phase shift in the THz regime. The large birefringence phase shift of this compound metasurface and its LC tunable phase shifter will be of great significance for potential applications in THz polarization and phase devices.

Electrically tunable terahertz polarization converter based on overcoupled metal-isolator-metal metamaterials infiltrated with liquid crystals

Large birefringence and its electrical modulation by means of Fréedericksz transition makes nematic liquid crystals (LCs) a promising platform for tunable terahertz (THz) devices. The thickness of standard LC cells is in the order of the wavelength, requiring high driving voltages and allowing only a very slow modulation at THz frequencies. Here, we first present the concept of overcoupled metal-isolator-metal (MIM) cavities that allow for achieving simultaneously both very high phase difference between orthogonal electric field components and large reflectance. We then apply this concept to LC-infiltrated MIM-based metamaterials aiming at the design of electrically tunable THz polarization converters. The optimal operation in the overcoupled regime is provided by properly selecting the thickness of the LC cell. Instead of the LC natural birefringence, the polarization-dependent functionality stems from the optical anisotropy of ultrathin and deeply subwavelength MIM structures. The dynamic electro-optic control of the LC refractive index enables the spectral shift of the resonant mode and, consequently, the tuning of the phase difference between the two orthogonal field components. This tunability is further enhanced by the large confinement of the resonant electromagnetic fields within the MIM cavity. We show that for an appropriately chosen linearly polarized incident field, the polarization state of the reflected field at the target operation frequency can be continuously swept between the north and south pole of the Poincaré sphere. Using a rigorous Q-tensor model to simulate the LC electro-optic switching, we demonstrate that the enhanced light-matter interaction in the MIM resonant cavity allows the polarization converter to operate at driving voltages below 10 Volt and with millisecond switching times.

Terahertz near-field imaging of dielectric resonators

As an alternative to metallic resonators, dielectric resonators can increase radiation efficiencies of metasurfaces at terahertz frequencies. Such subwavelength resonators made from low-loss dielectric materials operate on the basis of oscillating displacement currents. For full control of electromagnetic waves, it is essential that dielectric resonators operate around their resonant modes. Thus, understanding the nature of these resonances is crucial towards design implementation. To this end, an array of silicon resonators on a quartz substrate is designed to operate in transmission at terahertz frequencies. The resonator dimensions are tailored to observe their low-order modes of resonance at 0.58 THz and 0.61 THz respectively. We employ a terahertz near-field imaging technique to measure the complex near-fields of this dielectric resonator array. This unique method allows direct experimental observation of the first two fundamental resonances.

Tunable wave plate based on active plasmonic metasurfaces

Polarization conversion is highly desired for numerous valuable applications such as remote detection and high-precision measurement. It is conventionally achieved through utilizing bulky birefringent crystals or by delicate tailored anisotropy materials. However, such schemes are not compatible with both dynamic and compact on-chip applications. We propose an active metasurface that can generate tunable ellipticity for arbitrary incident polarization with a non-volatile and reversible modulation method. The metasurface consists of V-shape plasmonic antenna arrays and an interval modulation layer made of the phase change material GST for active phase control. Our approach allows the generation of high-quality arbitrary elliptical polarization states in an ultrathin, non-mechanical, and flexible fashion, representing a significant advance compared with its conventional counterparts.

Ultrathin Terahertz Quarter-wave plate based on Split Ring Resonator and Wire Grating hybrid Metasurface

Planar metasurface based quarter-wave plates offer various advantages over conventional waveplates in terms of compactness, flexibility and simple fabrication; however they offer very narrow bandwidth of operation. Here, we demonstrate a planar terahertz (THz) metasurface capable of linear to circular polarization conversion and vice versa in a wide frequency range. The proposed metasurface is based on horizontally connected split ring resonators and is realized on an ultrathin (0.05λ) zeonor substrate. The fabricated quarter waveplate realizes linear to circular polarization conversion in two broad frequency bands comprising 0.64–0.82 THz and 0.96–1.3 THz with an insertion loss ranging from −3.9 to −10 dB. By virtue of ultrathin sub wavelength thickness, the proposed waveplate design is well suited for application in near field THz optical systems. Additionally, the proposed metasurface design offers novel transmission phase characteristics that present further opportunities to realize dynamic polarization control of incident waves.

Designing perfect linear polarization converters using perfect electric and magnetic conducting surfaces

We propose a kind of general framework for the design of a perfect linear polarization converter that works in the transmission mode. Using an intuitive picture that is based on the method of bi-directional polarization mode decomposition, it is shown that when the device under consideration simultaneously possesses two complementary symmetry planes, with one being equivalent to a perfect electric conducting surface and the other being equivalent to a perfect magnetic conducting surface, linear polarization conversion can occur with an efficiency of 100% in the absence of absorptive losses. The proposed framework is validated by two design examples that operate near 10 GHz, where the numerical, experimental and analytic results are in good agreements.

Artificial high birefringence in all-dielectric gradient grating for broadband terahertz waves

Subwavelength dielectric gratings are widely applied in the phase and polarization manipulation of light. However, the dispersion of the normal dielectric gratings is not flat while their birefringences are not enough in the THz regime. In this paper, we have fabricated two all-dielectric gratings with gradient grids in the THz regime, of which artificial birefringence is much larger than that of the equal-grid dielectric grating demonstrated by both experiments and simulations. The transmission and dispersion characteristics are also improved since the gradient grids break the periodicity of grating lattices as a chirp feature. From 0.6–1.4 THz, a broadband birefringence reaches 0.35 with a low dispersion and good linearity of phase shift, and the maximum phase shift is 1.4π. Furthermore, these gradient gratings are applied as half-wave plates and realize a linear polarization conversion with a conversion rate over 99%, also much higher than the equal-grid gratings. These gradient gratings show great advantages compared to the periodic gratings and provide a new way in the designing of artificial birefringence material.

Electronically-Controlled Beam-Steering through Vanadium Dioxide Metasurfaces

Engineered metamaterials offer unique functionalities for manipulating the spectral and spatial properties of electromagnetic waves in unconventional ways. Here, we report a novel approach for making reconfigurable metasurfaces capable of deflecting electromagnetic waves in an electronically controllable fashion. This is accomplished by tilting the phase front of waves through a two-dimensional array of resonant metasurface unit-cells with electronically-controlled phase-change materials embedded inside. Such metasurfaces can be placed at the output facet of any electromagnetic radiation source to deflect electromagnetic waves at a desired frequency, ranging from millimeter-wave to far-infrared frequencies. Our design does not use any mechanical elements, external light sources, or reflectarrays, creating, for the first time, a highly robust and fully-integrated beam-steering device solution. We demonstrate a proof-of-concept beam-steering metasurface optimized for operation at 100 GHz, offering up to 44° beam deflection in both horizontal and vertical directions. Dynamic control of electromagnetic wave propagation direction through this unique platform could be transformative for various imaging, sensing, and communication applications, among others.

Convolution Operations on Coding Metasurface to Reach Flexible and Continuous Controls of Terahertz Beams

The concept of coding metasurface makes a link between physically metamaterial particles and digital codes, and hence it is possible to perform digital signal processing on the coding metasurface to realize unusual physical phenomena. Here, this study presents to perform Fourier operations on coding metasurfaces and proposes a principle called as scattering-pattern shift using the convolution theorem, which allows steering of the scattering pattern to an arbitrarily predesigned direction. Owing to the constant reflection amplitude of coding particles, the required coding pattern can be simply achieved by the modulus of two coding matrices. This study demonstrates that the scattering patterns that are directly calculated from the coding pattern using the Fourier transform have excellent agreements to the numerical simulations based on realistic coding structures, providing an efficient method in optimizing coding patterns to achieve predesigned scattering beams. The most important advantage of this approach over the previous schemes in producing anomalous single-beam scattering is its flexible and continuous controls to arbitrary directions. This work opens a new route to study metamaterial from a fully digital perspective, predicting the possibility of combining conventional theorems in digital signal processing with the coding metasurface to realize more powerful manipulations of electromagnetic waves.

A review of metasurfaces: physics and applications

Metamaterials are composed of periodic subwavelength metal/dielectric structures that resonantly couple to the electric and/or magnetic components of the incident electromagnetic fields, exhibiting properties that are not found in nature. This class of micro- and nano-structured artificial media have attracted great interest during the past 15 years and yielded ground-breaking electromagnetic and photonic phenomena. However, the high losses and strong dispersion associated with the resonant responses and the use of metallic structures, as well as the difficulty in fabricating the micro- and nanoscale 3D structures, have hindered practical applications of metamaterials. Planar metamaterials with subwavelength thickness, or metasurfaces, consisting of single-layer or few-layer stacks of planar structures, can be readily fabricated using lithography and nanoprinting methods, and the ultrathin thickness in the wave propagation direction can greatly suppress the undesirable losses. Metasurfaces enable a spatially varying optical response (e.g. scattering amplitude, phase, and polarization), mold optical wavefronts into shapes that can be designed at will, and facilitate the integration of functional materials to accomplish active control and greatly enhanced nonlinear response. This paper reviews recent progress in the physics of metasurfaces operating at wavelengths ranging from microwave to visible. We provide an overview of key metasurface concepts such as anomalous reflection and refraction, and introduce metasurfaces based on the Pancharatnam-Berry phase and Huygens' metasurfaces, as well as their use in wavefront shaping and beam forming applications, followed by a discussion of polarization conversion in few-layer metasurfaces and their related properties. An overview of dielectric metasurfaces reveals their ability to realize unique functionalities coupled with Mie resonances and their low ohmic losses. We also describe metasurfaces for wave guidance and radiation control, as well as active and nonlinear metasurfaces. Finally, we conclude by providing our opinions of opportunities and challenges in this rapidly developing research field.

Ultrathin flexible terahertz polarization converter based on metasurfaces

We present a method to design and fabricate a kind of converters based on flexible metasurfaces which can change the polarization state of an incident terahertz beam. The metasurface consists of a two-dimensional array of rectangular metallic antennas that can abruptly change the phase of the incoming terahertz beam. Experimentally demonstrated half-wave plates generate 0.1 THz beam with a π/2 polarization rotation. By slightly changing the structure of the converter, an elliptically or circularly polarized beam is expected to be obtained. These flexible terahertz converters may have many potential applications in terahertz technology.

Quasi-continuous metasurface for ultra-broadband and polarization-controlled electromagnetic beam deflection

Two-dimensional metasurface has attracted growing interest in recent years, owing to its ability in manipulating the phase, amplitude and polarization state of electromagnetic wave within a single interface. However, most existing metasurfaces rely on the collective responses of a set of discrete meta-atoms to perform various functionalities. In this paper, we presented a quasi-continuous metasurface for high-efficiency and broadband beam steering in the microwave regime. It is demonstrated both in simulation and experiment that the incident beam deviates from the normal direction after transmitting through the ultrathin metasurface. The efficiency of the proposed metasurface approximates to the theoretical limit of the single-layer metasurface in a broad frequency range, owing to the elimination of the circuit resonance in traditional discrete structures. The proposed scheme promises potential applications in broadband electromagnetic modulation and communication systems, etc.

Switchable Ultrathin Quarter-wave Plate in Terahertz Using Active Phase-change Metasurface

Metamaterials open up various exotic means to control electromagnetic waves and among them polarization manipulations with metamaterials have attracted intense attention. As of today, static responses of resonators in metamaterials lead to a narrow-band and single-function operation. Extension of the working frequency relies on multilayer metamaterials or different unit cells, which hinder the development of ultra-compact optical systems. In this work, we demonstrate a switchable ultrathin terahertz quarter-wave plate by hybridizing a phase change material, vanadium dioxide (VO2), with a metasurface. Before the phase transition, VO2 behaves as a semiconductor and the metasurface operates as a quarter-wave plate at 0.468 THz. After the transition to metal phase, the quarter-wave plate operates at 0.502 THz. At the corresponding operating frequencies, the metasurface converts a linearly polarized light into a circularly polarized light. This work reveals the feasibility to realize tunable/active and extremely low-profile polarization manipulation devices in the terahertz regime through the incorporation of such phase-change metasurfaces, enabling novel applications of ultrathin terahertz meta-devices.