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Wavefront-controllable all-silicon terahertz meta-polarizer

波前可控的全硅太赫兹超构起偏器

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Abstract

Metamaterial devices that can directly generate polarized waves from unpolarized waves and simultaneously manipulate the wavefront are needed for advanced optical applications. However, conventional wavefront-controllable polarization conversion metasurfaces (PCMs) rely on an incident wave with a certain polarization state rather than an unpolarized wave. A few specially designed meta-polarizers had obtained polarized waves from unpolarized waves, but the simultaneous wavefront manipulation was not achieved. In this work, we report wavefront-controllable terahertz (THz) meta-polarizers based on all-silicon materials, which have higher integration characteristics than conventional meta-polarizers and wavefront-controllable PCMs. Such THz meta-polarizers merge the desired phase profile into meta-atoms’ beam interference, and will perform direct generation of polarized waves from unpolarized waves and realize simultaneous wavefront manipulations. This work is expected to provide a new impact for THz wave manipulations.

摘要

直接从非偏振波中产生偏振波并同时操纵波前的超材料器件可用于先进的光学系统. 然而, 传统的波前可控偏振转换超表面(PCMs)依赖于具有特定偏振状态的入射波, 而不是非偏振波. 少数经特殊设计的超构起偏器虽然已经从非偏振波中获得了偏振波, 但没有同步地实现波前操控. 本文报道了基于全硅材料的波前可控的太赫兹超构起偏器,它比传统的超构起偏器和波前可控PCMs具有更高的集成特性. 这种太赫兹超构起偏器将特定相位分布融入超构原子的波束干涉中, 直接从非偏振太赫兹波产生偏振太赫兹波, 并同步实现波前操控, 有望为太赫兹波操控领域带来新的影响.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFB2800703 and 2017YFA0700202), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (61675147), and Sichuan Science and Technology Program (2021ZYD0039).

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Opto-electronics Information Technology (Tianjin University), Ministry of Education, School of Precision Instruments and Opto-Electronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Jitao Li  (李继涛), Zhen Yue  (岳震), Jie Li  (李杰), Chenglong Zheng  (郑程龙), Fan Yang  (杨帆), Hui Li  (李辉), Yating Zhang  (张雅婷) & Jianquan Yao  (姚建铨)

  2. Beijing Key Laboratory for Metamaterials and Devices, Key Laboratory of Terahertz Optoelectronics, Ministry of Education, and Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Imaging Technology, Department of Physics, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China

    Jingyu Liu  (刘婧宇) & Yan Zhang  (张岩)

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  1. Jitao Li  (李继涛)
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  8. Yating Zhang  (张雅婷)
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Contributions

Li JT conceived the idea, designed the experiments and wrote the original manuscript. Yue Z and Li J performed the experiments and measurements and revised the original manuscript. Zheng C, Liu J, Yang F, and Li H contributed to the simulation and drew the graphics. Zhang YT, Zhang Y, and Yao J reviewed the manuscript and supervised the progress.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yating Zhang  (张雅婷), Yan Zhang  (张岩) or Jianquan Yao  (姚建铨).

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Supplementary information

Experimental details and supporting data are available in the online version of the paper.

Jitao Li is currently a PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. Jianquan Yao at the Institute of Laser and Optoelectronics, Tianjin University, China. His research interests cover photonics and optoelectronics technologies that explore the interaction of light and matter.

Zhen Yue is currently a PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. Jianquan Yao at the Institute of Laser and Optoelectronics, Tianjin University. His research area is exploring and designing versatile terahertz polarization devices, especially all-dielectric meta-devices that can independently manipulate polarization, phase and amplitude.

Jie Li is currently a PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. Jianquan Yao at the Institute of Laser and Optoelectronics, Tianjin University, China. His research field is exploring and developing novel metasurface-based terahertz devices, especially polarization-multiplexed all-dielectric meta-devices.

Yating Zhang serves as an associate professor and is working at the Institute of Laser and Optoelectronics, Tianjin University, China. Her research focuses on micro-nano optoelectronic materials and devices, new materials and device design, optoelectronic device processing and testing, etc.

Yan Zhang is a professor at Capital Normal University, China. He is also a fellow of the Optical Society of America. Prof. Zhang is mainly engaged in research on terahertz optoelectronics, micro-nano optics, and optical information processing, etc.

Jianquan Yao is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and also serves as a professor at Tianjin University, China. Professor Yao is mainly engaged in theoretical and applied research in nonlinear optics, laser technology, optical communication, and terahertz science and technology, etc. Prof. Yao has won the National Invention Award of China and the Grand Prize of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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Li, J., Yue, Z., Li, J. et al. Wavefront-controllable all-silicon terahertz meta-polarizer. Sci. China Mater. 66, 300–308 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2126-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2126-0

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