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A Switchable Metalens Based on Active Tri-Layer Metasurface

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Abstract

Metasurfaces, which are composed of two-dimensional arrays of subwavelength structures, can reshape the wavefront arbitrarily by introducing phase discontinuities with the entire 2π phase region. In this paper, we demonstrate a switchable metalens based on active tri-layer metasurfaces by hybridizing a phase-change material, vanadium dioxide (VO2). The reflection and transmission coefficients of the metasurface element and the focusing performance of the switchable metalens were studied and simulated. At room temperature (300 K), VO2 behaves as a semiconductor and our proposed metalens can reflect and converge the co-polarized terahertz wave with high efficiency, working as a reflective lens. When the temperature is up to around 400 K, the VO2 material is switched into metal phase and the proposed metalens is switched into its operating state as a transmission mode for the cross-polarized terahertz wave. By thermal stimulation or electrical bias, the switchable meta-devices proposed in this paper can be applied in the fields for imaging, communication, and power modulation.

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Funding

This paper is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61205095), the Shanghai Young College Teacher Develop funding schemes (No. slg11006.)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Key Lab of Modern Optical System, Engineering Research Center of Optical Instrument and System, Ministry of Education, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, 516 Jungong Road, Shanghai, 200093, China

    Ru Ji, Yanan Hua, Kejian Chen, Kaiwen Long, Yanjun Fu, Xiaofan Zhang & Songlin Zhuang

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  1. Ru Ji
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  2. Yanan Hua
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  3. Kejian Chen
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  4. Kaiwen Long
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  5. Yanjun Fu
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  6. Xiaofan Zhang
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  7. Songlin Zhuang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kejian Chen.

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Ji, R., Hua, Y., Chen, K. et al. A Switchable Metalens Based on Active Tri-Layer Metasurface. Plasmonics 14, 165–171 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11468-018-0789-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11468-018-0789-0

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