Electrically Reconfigurable Micromirror Array for Direct Spatial Light Modulation of Terahertz Waves over a Bandwidth Wider Than 1 THz
- We report the design, fabrication and experimental investigation of a spectrally wide-band terahertz spatial light modulator (THz-SLM) based on an array of 768 actuatable mirrors with each having a length of 220 μm and a width of 100 μm. A mirror length of several hundred micrometers is required to reduce diffraction from individual mirrors at terahertz frequencies and to increase the pixel-to-pixel modulation contrast of the THz-SLM. By means of spatially selective actuation, we used the mirror array as reconfigurable grating to spatially modulate terahertz waves in a frequency range from 0.97 THz to 2.28 THz. Over the entire frequency band, the modulation contrast was higher than 50% with a peak modulation contrast of 87% at 1.38 THz. For spatial light modulation, almost arbitrary spatial pixel sizes can be realized by grouping of mirrors that are collectively switched as a pixel. For fabrication of the actuatable mirrors, we exploited the intrinsic residual stress in chrome-copper-chrome multi-layers that forces the mirrors into an upstanding position at an inclination angle of 35°. By applying a bias voltage of 37 V, the mirrors were pulled down to the substrate. By hysteretic switching, we were able to spatially modulate terahertz radiation at arbitrary pixel modulation patterns.
Verfasser*innenangaben: | Jan Kappa, Dominik Sokoluk, Steffen Klingel, Corey Shemelya, Egbert OesterschulzeORCiD, Marco Rahm |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hbz:386-kluedo-57610 |
ISSN: | 2045-2322 |
Verlag: | Springer Nature - Nature Publishing Group |
Dokumentart: | Wissenschaftlicher Artikel |
Sprache der Veröffentlichung: | Englisch |
Datum der Veröffentlichung (online): | 22.02.2019 |
Jahr der Erstveröffentlichung: | 2019 |
Veröffentlichende Institution: | Technische Universität Kaiserslautern |
Datum der Publikation (Server): | 24.10.2019 |
Seitenzahl: | 9 |
Quelle: | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-39152-y |
Fachbereiche / Organisatorische Einheiten: | Kaiserslautern - Fachbereich Physik |
DDC-Sachgruppen: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 530 Physik |
Sammlungen: | Open-Access-Publikationsfonds |
Lizenz (Deutsch): | Zweitveröffentlichung |