Abstract-Broadband terahertz metamaterial absorber based on simple multi-ring structures

AIP Advances

Guoqing Shen, Ming Zhang, Yanping Ji, Wanxia Huang, Honglin Yu,  Jianping Shi,

Three-dimensional diagram of the unit cell (a) and top view (b) of the terahertz metamaterial absorber. P is the period of the unit cell, L is the length of the metal square ring and a, b, c, d represent four sub-cells, respectively.

https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.5024606

Single-layer metallic rings are the effective structure cell which are widely used to design single-band and multiband perfect metamaterial absorbers owning to their electromagnetic resonance. However, the absorbers based on the single-layer metallic rings have a common shortcoming, that is the narrow absorption bandwidth. To overcome the limitations, here we proposed a single-layer, flexible and broadband terahertz metamaterial absorber, which consists of four sub-cells with multiple metal rings and a metal ground plane separated by a dielectric layer. By enhancing the coupling response between adjacent metallic rings and merging the adjacent resonant peaks of multi-resonators, we experimentally observed broadband characteristics at the terahertz band. The average absorption of 88% from 0.63 to 1.34 THz and the relative absorption bandwidth of 95% at the incident angle of 15o for TE polarization. Correspondingly, for TM polarization the absorption of more than 80% from 0.61 to 1.1 THz with the relative absorption bandwidth of 80% were also observed. The results went far beyond the previous single-layer absorbers based on metal rings and were much better than the fractal-cross structure reported recently [Kenney et al., ACS Photonics 4, 2604 (2017)]. We had reason to believe that the presented terahertz metamaterial absorber with broad absorption bandwidth and simple structure can find important applications in communication, stealth, energy harvesting systems and so on.

Abstract-Dynamic Photoinduced Controlling of the Large Phase Shift of Terahertz Waves via Vanadium Dioxide Coupling Nanostructures

Yuncheng Zhao, Yaxin Zhang, Qiwu Shi, Shixiong Liang,  Wanxia Huang,  Wei Kou,  Ziqiang Yang,

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsphotonics.8b00276

Utilizing terahertz (THz) waves to transmit data for communication and imaging places high demands on phase modulation. However, until now, it is difficult to realize a more than 100° phase shift in the transmission mode with one-layer structure. In this paper, a ring-dumbbell composite resonator nested with VO2 nanostructures is proposed to achieve the large phase shift. It is found that in this structure a hybrid mode with an enhanced resonant intensity, which is coupled by the L-C resonance and dipole resonance has been observed. Applying the photoinduced phase transition characteristics of VO2, the resonant intensity of the mode can be dynamically controlled, which leads to a large phase shift in the incident THz wave. The dynamic experimental results show that controlling the power of the external laser can achieve a phase shift of up to 138° near 0.6 THz using this one-layer VO2 nested composite structure. Moreover, within a 55 GHz (575–630 GHz) bandwidth, the phase shift exceeds 130°. This attractive phase shift modulation may provide prospective applications in THz imaging, communications, and so on.

Abstract-Dynamic Photo-induced Controlling of the Large Phase Shift of Terahertz Waves via Vanadium Dioxide Coupling Nanostructures

Yuncheng Zhao, Yaxin Zhang, Qiwu Shi, Shixiong Liang, Wanxia Huang, Wei Kou, Ziqiang Yang,

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsphotonics.8b00276?mi=aayia761&af=R&AllField=nano&target=default&targetTab=std

Utilizing terahertz (THz) waves to transmit data for communication and imaging places high demands on phase modulation. However, until now, realizing a large phase shift using a one-layer structure in transmission mode has been difficult. In this paper, utilizing a composite unit cell by coupling the traditional metallic wire dipolar resonance and the split-ring capacitive inductance resonance results in an enhanced resonance coupling mode. Combined with a vanadium dioxide (VO2) nanostructure and applying the photo-induced phase transition, the resonant intensity of the mode can be dynamically controlled, which leads to an ultralarge phase shift in the incident THz wave. The dynamic experimental results show that controlling the power of the external laser can achieve a phase shift of up to 138 degrees near 0.6 THz using this one-layer VO2 nested composite structure. Moreover, within a 55 GHz (575 GHz-630 GHz) bandwidth, the phase shift exceeds 130 degrees. This attractive phase shift modulation may provide prospective applications in THz imaging, communications, etc.

Abstract-Photoinduced active terahertz metamaterials with nanostructured vanadium dioxide film deposited by sol-gel method

Yaxin Zhang, Shen Qiao, Linlin Sun, Qi Wu Shi, Wanxia Huang, Ling Li, and Ziqiang Yang  »View Author Affiliations

Optics Express, Vol. 22, Issue 9, pp. 11070-11078 (2014)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.22.011070

Applying the photoexcitation characteristics of vanadium dioxide (VO₂), a dynamic resonant terahertz (THz) functional device with the combination of VO₂ film and dual-resonance metamaterial was suggested to realize the ultrafast external spatial THz wave active manipulation. The designed metamaterial realizes a pass band at 0.28–0.36 THz between the dual-resonant frequencies, and the VO₂ film is applied to control the transmittance of the spatial THz wave. More than an 80% modulation depth has been observed in the statics experiment, and the dynamic experimental results illustrate that this active metamaterial realizes up to a 1 MHz amplitude modulation signal loaded on a 0.34 THz carrier wave without any low noise amplified devices. The electromagnetic properties and photoinduced dynamic characteristics of this structure may have many potential applications in THz functional components, including modulators, intelligent switches, and sensors.

© 2014 Optical Society of America