In this paper, a broadband tunable polarization converter based on graphene metasurfaces is proposed. This polarization converter works in the terahertz (THz) frequency region, using the advantage of graphene characteristics to have a tunable frequency response. The designed graphene-shaped periodic structure on top of the substrate is utilized to convert the incident wave polarization to the desired target in a flexible operational band in the THz frequencies. The polarization conversion ratio is more than 0.85 in a wide range of frequencies in the THz band from 4.86 to 8.42 THz (the fractional bandwidth is 54%). The proposed polarization converter is insensitive to the angle of the incident wave up to 40{deg}. Using graphene provides a tunable frequency response without changing the geometry of the designed structure.
This paper proposes a flexible broadband linear polarization converter based on metasurface operating at microwave band. In order to achieve bandwidth extension property, long and short metallic arc wires, as well as the metallic disks placed over a ground plane, are combined into the polarizer, which can generate three neighboring resonances. Due to the combination of the first two resonances and optimized size and thickness of the unit cell, the polarization converter can have a weak incident angle dependence. Both simulated and measured results confirm that the average polarization conversion ratio is over 85% from 11.3 to 20.2 GHz within a broad incident angle from 0{deg} to 45{deg}. Moreover, the proposed polarization converter based on flexible substrates can be applied for conformal design. The simulation and experiment results demonstrate that our designed polarizer still keeps high polarization conversion efficiency even when it adheres on convex cylindrical surfaces. The periodic metallic structure of the designed polarizer has great potential application values in the microwave, terahertz and optic regimes.
We present an electrically switchable graphene terahertz (THz) modulator with a tunable-by-design optical bandwidth and we exploit it to compensate the cavity dispersion of a quantum cascade laser (QCL). Electrostatic gating is achieved by a metal-grating used as a gate electrode, with an HfO2/AlOx gate dielectric on top. This is patterned on a polyimide layer, which acts as a quarter wave resonance cavity, coupled with an Au reflector underneath. We get 90% modulation depth of the intensity, combined with a 20 kHz electrical bandwidth in the 1.9 _ 2.7 THz range. We then integrate our modulator with a multimode THz QCL. By adjusting the modulator operational bandwidth, we demonstrate that the graphene modulator can partially compensates the QCL cavity dispersion, resulting in an integrated laser behaving as a stable frequency comb over 35% of the laser operational range, with 98 equidistant optical modes and with a spectral coverage of ~ 1.2 THz. This has significant potential for frontier applications in the terahertz, as tunable transformation-optics devices, active photonic components, adaptive and quantum optics, and as a metrological tool for spectroscopy at THz frequencies.
A full (2$pi$) phase modulation is critical for efficient wavefront manipulation. In this article, a metasurface based on graphene long/short-strip resonators is used to implement a dynamic 2$pi$ phase modulation by applying different voltages to different graphene resonators. The configuration is found to have high reflection efficiency (minimum 56%) and has a full phase modulation in a wide frequency range. Terahertz (THz) beam steering as large as 120 degrees ($pm60^circ$) is demonstrated in a broad frequency range (1.2 to 1.9 THz) by changing the Fermi levels of different graphene resonators accordingly. This metasurface can provide a new platform for effectively manipulating THz waves.
In this paper, we combine the design of band-pass frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) with polarization converters to realize a broadband frequency-selective polarization converter (FSPC) with lowbackward scattering, which consists of the top polarization conversion layer backed by a multi-layer bandpass FSS. It is numerically demonstrated that the 1 dB transmission window can be obtained from 8.5 GHz to 11 GHz with a 25.6% fractional bandwidth (FBW), and the bandwidth of reflection below -10 dB is up to 92% from 5.6 GHz to 15.13 GHz. Moreover, the proposed device can achieve two polarization conversion bands (5.66-6.9 GHz and 12.8-15.2GHz) with the polarization conversion ratio over 90%. Besides, by arranging the proposed structure in a checkerboard-like distribution, the backward scattering energy can be reduced in a wide frequency band ranging from 4 to 16 GHz. Both simulation and experimental results are in good agreements, which demonstrates our design strategy. Compared with the conventional polarization conversion designs, the proposed design presents an extra frequency-selective performance and hence can be applied to various practical situations, for instance, working as radomes to transmit the in-band signals with high-efficiency while keeping low-backward scattering for the out-of-band waves.
We demonstrate a classical analogue of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a highly flexible planar terahertz metamaterial (MM) comprised of three-gap split ring resonators. The keys to achieve EIT in this system are the frequency detuning and hybridization processes between two bright modes coexisting in the same unit cell as opposed to bright-dark modes. We present experimental verification of two-bright mode coupling for a terahertz EIT-MM in the context of numerical results and theoretical analysis based on a coupled Lorentz oscillator model. In addition, a hybrid variation of the EIT-MM is proposed and implemented numerically in order to dynamically tune the EIT window by incorporating photosensitive silicon pads in the split gap region of the resonators. As a result, this hybrid MM enables the potential active optical control of a transition from the on-state (EIT mode) to the off-state (dipole mode).