Abstract-Detection of microorganisms using terahertz metamaterials

 

S. J. Park, J. T. Hong, S. J. Choi, H. S. Kim, W. K. Park, S. T. Han, J. Y. Park, S. Lee, D. S. Kim, Y. H. Ahn 

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep04988?proof=t

Microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria cause many human diseases and therefore rapid and accurate identification of these substances is essential for effective treatment and prevention of further infections. In particular, contemporary microbial detection technique is limited by the low detection speed which usually extends over a couple of days. Here we demonstrate that metamaterials operating in the terahertz frequency range shows promising potential for use in fabricating the highly sensitive and selective microbial sensors that are capable of high-speed on-site detection of microorganisms in both ambient and aqueous environments. We were able to detect extremely small amounts of the microorganisms, because their sizes are on the same scale as the micro-gaps of the terahertz metamaterials. The resonant frequency shift of the metamaterials was investigated in terms of the number density and the dielectric constants of the microorganisms, which was successfully interpreted by the change in the effective dielectric constant of a gap area.

Abstract-Tunable broadband terahertz polarizer using graphene-metal hybrid metasurface

K. Meng, S. J. Park, L. H. Li, D. R. Bacon, L. Chen, K. Chae, J. Y. Park, A. D. Burnett, E. H. Linfield, A. G. Davies, and J. E. Cunningham

 (a) Schematic diagram of the graphene-metal hybrid wire grid structure. Upper figure: cross-section of the array, lower figure: top view of the array. (b) Schematic diagram of the THz transmission experiment: the lower electrode was used for applying gate voltage and the upper two electrodes were connected to a source meter for measuring the conductivity (indicated by G) (c) DC conductivities of graphene in each device as a function of gate voltage. (d) SEM image of the graphene-metal hybrid wire grids with 𝛬𝑀/𝐺=30𝜇𝑚${\Lambda }_{M/G}=30\mu m$. (e) Raman spectrum of the graphene in a typical device.

https://www.osapublishing.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-27-23-33768

We demonstrate an electrically tunable polarizer for terahertz (THz) frequency electromagnetic waves formed from a hybrid graphene-metal metasurface. Broadband (>3 THz) polarization-dependent modulation of THz transmission is demonstrated as a function of the graphene conductivity for various wire grid geometries, each tuned by gating using an overlaid ion gel. We show a strong enhancement of modulation (up to ∼17 times) compared to graphene wire grids in the frequency range of 0.2–2.5 THz upon introduction of the metallic elements. Theoretical calculations, considering both plasmonic coupling and Drude absorption, are in good agreement with our experimental findings.

Published by The Optical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Abstract-Increasing the sensitivity of terahertz split ring resonator metamaterials for dielectric sensing by localized substrate etching

K. Meng, S. J. Park, A. D. Burnett, T. Gill, C. D. Wood, M. Rosamond, L. H. Li, L. Chen, D. R. Bacon, J. R. Freeman, P. Dean, Y. H. Ahn, E. H. Linfield, A. G. Davies,  J. E. Cunningham, 

Fig. 1. (a) Schematic of THz transmission experiment for dielectric sensing using the etched metamaterials. (b) Schematic of THz metamaterials arrays with etched trenches. The periodicity of the metamaterials unit cells is indicated (c) An SEM image of the metamaterial with a trench depth of 1.74 µm. Cross-section SEM images of the metamaterials with trench depths t of (d) 1.74 µm and (e) 130 nm in the gap area.

https://www.osapublishing.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-27-16-23164

We demonstrate a significant enhancement in the sensitivity of split ring resonator terahertz metamaterial dielectric sensors by the introduction of etched trenches into their inductive-capacitive gap area, both through finite element simulations and in experiments performed using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The enhanced sensitivity is demonstrated by observation of an increased frequency shift in response to overlaid dielectric material of thicknesses up to 18 µm deposited on to the sensor surface. We show that sensitivity to the dielectric is enhanced by a factor of up to ∼2.7 times by the incorporation of locally etched trenches with a depth of ∼3.4 µm, for example, and discuss the effect of the etching on the electrical properties of the sensors. Our experimental findings are in good agreement with simulations of the sensors obtained using finite element methods.

Published by The Optical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Abstract-Terahertz slot antenna devices fabricated on silver nanowire network films

J. T. Hong, S. J. Park, Ji-yong Park, Soonil Lee, and Y. H. Ahn

https://www.osapublishing.org/ome/abstract.cfm?uri=ome-7-5-1679&origin=search

We fabricated plasmonic devices operating in the terahertz (THz) frequency range using silver nanowire (AgNW) network films. AgNW films exhibit high conductivity and good transparency in the visible range, with a figure of merit comparable to that of conventional transparent conducting oxide films. The THz conductivity of AgNW films can be improved by post-treatment procedures such as welding using graphene oxide flakes. Using photolithography, we fabricated the slot antenna arrays whose resonance behaviors are determined by geometric parameters such as the length of individual elements. The plasmonic resonance varied with the sheet resistances of the film, enabling us to manipulate the quality factors and the peak position of the resonance, in particular, by controlling the films thickness and by the post-procedures such as the chemical vapor treatment.

© 2017 Optical Society of America

Abstract-Sensing viruses using terahertz nano-gap metamaterials

S. J. Park, S. H. Cha, G. A. Shin, and Y. H. Ahn

https://www.osapublishing.org/boe/abstract.cfm?uri=boe-8-8-3551

We demonstrate highly sensitive detection of viruses using terahertz split-ring resonators with various capacitive gap widths. Two types of viruses, with sizes ranging from 60 nm (PRD1) to 30 nm (MS2), were detected at low densities on the metamaterial surface. The dielectric constants of the virus layers in the THz frequency range were first measured using thick films, and the large values found identified them as efficient target substances for dielectric sensing. We observed the resonance-frequency shift of the THz metamaterial following deposition of the viruses on the surface at low-density. The resonance shift was higher for the MS2 virus, which has a relatively large dielectric constant. The frequency shift increases with surface density until saturation and the sensitivity is then obtained from the initial slope. Significantly, the sensitivity increases by about 13 times as the gap width in the metamaterials is decreased from 3 µm to 200 nm. This results from a combination of size-related factors, leading to field enhancement accompanying strong field localization.

© 2017 Optical Society of America

Abstract-Sensitive detection of yeast using terahertz slot antennas

Sensitive detection of yeast using terahertz slot antennas S. J. Park, B. H. Son, S. J. Choi, H. S. Kim, and Y. H. Ahn  »View Author Affiliations

Optics Express, Vol. 22, Issue 25, pp. 30467-30472 (2014)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.22.030467

http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/fulltext.cfm?uri=oe-22-25-30467&id=305381

We demonstrated sensitive detection of individual yeast cells and yeast films by using slot antenna arrays operating in the terahertz frequency range. Microorganisms located at the slot area cause a shift in the resonant frequency of the THz transmission. The shift was investigated as a function of the surface number density for a set of devices fabricated on different substrates. In particular, sensors fabricated on a substrate with relatively low permittivity demonstrate higher sensitivity. The frequency shift decreases with increasing slot antenna width for a fixed coverage of yeast film, indicating a field enhancement effect. Furthermore, the vertical range of the effective sensing volume has been studied by varying the thickness of the yeast film. The resonant frequency shift saturates at 3.5 μm for a slot width of 2 μm. In addition, the results of finite-difference time-domain simulations are in good agreement with our experimental data.

© 2014 Optical Society of America

Abstract-Terahertz conductivity of reduced graphene oxide films

J. T. Hong, K. M. Lee, B. H. Son, S. J. Park, D. J. Park, Ji-Yong Park, Soonil Lee, and Y. H. Ahn »View Author Affiliations

http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-21-6-7633

We performed time-domain terahertz (THz) spectroscopy on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) network films coated on quartz substrates from dispersion solutions by spraying method. The rGO network films demonstrate high conductivity of about 900 S/cm in the THz frequency range after a high temperature reduction process. The frequency-dependent conductivities and the refractive indexes of the rGO films have been obtained and analyzed with respect to the Drude free-electron model, which is characterized by large scattering rate. Finally, we demonstrate that the THz conductivities can be manipulated by controlling the reduction process, which correlates well with the DC conductivity above the percolation limit.