Terahertz Metamaterials for Linear Polarization Conversion and Anomalous Refraction

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 340; no. 6138; pp. 1304 - 1307
• Main Authors: Grady, Nathaniel K., Heyes, Jane E., Chowdhury, Dibakar Roy, Zeng, Yong, Reiten, Matthew T., Azad, Abul K., Taylor, Antoinette J., Dalvit, Diego A. R., Chen, Hou-Tong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 14-06-2013; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Arrays; Broadband transmission; Conversion; Electromagnetism; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Frequencies; Frequency ranges; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Geometric angles; Linear polarization; Materials science; Metrology; Optics; Physics; Polarization; Polyimides; Refraction; Resonators; Signal bandwidth; Signal reflection; Simulations; Transmittance; Wave optics; Wave refraction; Wire; Electromagnetic wave refraction; Optical polarization; THz range; Metamaterial; Photonics
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1235399

Polarization is one of the basic properties of electromagnetic waves conveying valuable information in signal transmission and sensitive measurements. Conventional methods for advanced polarization control impose demanding requirements on material properties and attain only limited performance. We demonstrated ultrathin, broadband, and highly efficient metamaterial-based terahertz polarization converters that are capable of rotating a linear polarization state into its orthogonal one. On the basis of these results, we created metamaterial structures capable of realizing near-perfect anomalous refraction. Our work opens new opportunities for creating high-performance photonic devices and enables emergent metamaterial functionalities for applications in the technologically difficult terahertz-frequency regime.