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Adding a Tuneable Response to a Terahertz Metasurface Using a Graphene Thin Film

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Abstract

Tuneable terahertz devices are pivotal for the next-generation high-speed wireless communications and sensing technologies. The development of these devices is in its infancy, as significant challenges exist in fabricating terahertz electronics that possess tuneability while maintaining an ultrafast electrical response. In this work, a graphene film is employed as a tuneable conductive ground plate for a gold terahertz metasurface. In this way, a tuning functionality is added to the otherwise non-tuneable metasurface. Using this approach, a proof-of-concept THz transmission modulator is designed, modelled, and experimentally fabricated. The experimental device output is consistent with the simulation. Electrical bias connections are made laterally on the graphene ground, simplifying the fabrication process. This delivers a new and simple approach of adding a tuning functionality to a wide range of terahertz devices.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author(s) upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge and thank Dr. Krunal Radhanpura for his assistance with the THz-TDS setup and measurement. We acknowledge Dr. Dong Han Seo, Dr. James Cooper, and Dr. Adrian Murdock for their helpful advice/discussion in developing the graphene synthesis process. The photomask used in this work was produced by the Research and Prototype Foundry Core Research Facility at the University of Sydney—part of the Australian National Fabrication Facility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Manufacturing, 36 Bradfield Road, Lindfield, NSW, 2070, Australia

    Andrew Squires, Tim van der Laan, Zhaojun Han & Jia Du

  2. School of Information and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Haidian District, Beijing, 100081, China

    Xiang Gao

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Contributions

A.S. fabricated the tuneable terahertz device. A.S. performed the device characterization and analysis. J. D. and Z. H. conceived the project idea. X.G. designed the device and performed the modelling with inputs from A.S. and J.D. X.G. provided the simulated data in Fig. 2. A.S. wrote the manuscript supported by X.G, J.D., Z. H., and T.V.D.L. A.S. prepared Figs. 1–7.

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Correspondence to Andrew Squires.

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Squires, A., Gao, X., van der Laan, T. et al. Adding a Tuneable Response to a Terahertz Metasurface Using a Graphene Thin Film. J Infrared Milli Terahz Waves 43, 806–818 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10762-022-00883-1

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