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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.
In search of new technologies for optimizing the performance and space requirements of electronic and optical micro-circuits, the concept of spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) has come to the fore of research in recent years. Due to the ability of SSPPs to confine and guide the energy of electromagnetic waves in a subwavelength space below the diffraction limit, SSPPs deliver all the tools to implement integrated circuits with a high integration rate. However, in order to guide SSPPs in the terahertz frequency range, it is necessary to carefully design metasurfaces that allow one to manipulate the spatio-temporal and spectral properties of the SSPPs at will. Here, we propose a specifically designed cut-wire metasurface that sustains strongly confined SSPP modes at terahertz frequencies. As we show by numerical simulations and also prove in experimental measurements, the proposed metasurface can tightly guide SSPPs on straight and curved pathways while maintaining their subwavelength field confinement perpendicular to the surface. Furthermore, we investigate the dependence of the spatio-temporal and spectral properties of the SSPP modes on the width of the metasurface lanes that can be composed of one, two or three cut-wires in the transverse direction. Our investigations deliver new insights into downsizing effects of guiding structures for SSPPs.
Modern applications in the realms of wireless communication and mobile broadband Internet increase the demand for compact antennas with well defined directivity. Here, we present an approach for the design and implementation of hybrid antennas consisting of a classic feeding antenna that is near-field-coupled to a subwavelength resonator. In such a combined structure, the composite antenna always radiates at the resonance frequency of the subwavelength oscillator as well as at the resonance frequency of the feeding antenna. While the classic antenna serves as impedance-matched feeding element, the subwavelength resonator induces an additional resonance to the composite antenna. In general, these near-field coupled structures are known for decades and are lately published as near-field resonant parasitic antennas. We describe an antenna design consisting of a high-frequency electric dipole antenna at fd=25 GHz that couples to a low-frequency subwavelength split-ring resonator, which emits electromagnetic waves at fSRR=10.41 GHz. The radiating part of the antenna has a size of approximately 3.2mm×8mm×1mm and thus is electrically small at this frequency with a product k⋅a=0.5 . The input return loss of the antenna was moderate at −18 dB and it radiated at a spectral bandwidth of 120 MHz. The measured main lobe of the antenna was observed at 60∘ with a −3 dB angular width of 65∘ in the E-plane and at 130∘ with a −3 dB angular width of 145∘ in the H-plane
Radar cross section reducing (RCSR) metasurfaces or coding metasurfaces were primarily designed for normally incident radiation in the past. It is evident that the performance of coding metasurfaces for RCSR can be significantly improved by additional backscattering reduction of obliquely incident radiation, which requires a valid analytic conception tool. Here, we derive an analytic current density distribution model for the calculation of the backscatter far-field of obliquely incident radiation on a coding metasurface for RCSR. For demonstration, we devise and fabricate a metasurface for a working frequency of 10.66GHz and obtain good agreement between the measured, simulated, and analytically calculated backscatter far-fields. The metasurface significantly reduces backscattering for incidence angles between −40∘ and 40∘ in a spectral working range of approximately 1GHz.
Phase-gradient metasurfaces can be designed to manipulate electromagnetic waves according to the generalized Snell’s law. Here, we show that a phased parallel-plate waveguide array (PPWA) can be devised to act in the same manner as a phase-gradient metasurface. We derive an analytic model that describes the wave propagation in the PPWA and calculate both the angle and amplitude distribution of the diffracted waves. The analytic model provides an intuitive understanding of the diffraction from the PPWA. We verify the (semi-)analytically calculated angle and amplitude distribution of the diffracted waves by numerical 3-D simulations and experimental measurements in a microwave goniometer.