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Using metasurfaces to control the wave propagation at will has been very successful over the broad electromagnetic spectrum in recent years. By encoding specially designed abrupt changes of electromagnetic parameters into metasurfaces, such as phase and amplitude, nearly arbitrary control over the output wavefronts could be realized. Constituted by a single- or fewlayer of planar structures, metasurfaces are straightforward in design and fabrication, thus promising many realistic applications. Moreover, such control concept can be further extended to the surface wave regime. In this review, we present our recent progress on metasurfaces capable of tailoring the propagation of both free-space and surface terahertz waves. Following an introduction of the basic concept and theory, a number of unique terahertz metasurfaces are presented, showing the ability in devising ultra-thin and compact functional terahertz components.

We present an all-dielectric meta-lens designed to collimate terahertz waves emitted from a terahertz antenna. The meta-lens is not only thinner than a conventional bulk silicon lens, but also promises to eliminate the use of parabolic mirrors in a terahertz time-domain spectroscopy system. A systematic numerical study reveals that the meta-lens exhibits excellent performance in both the emitter and detector modules, converting between the spherical wave of the antennas and the collimated beam. The frequency and alignment dependences of the meta-lens are also investigated to comprehensively map its response characteristics. The all-dielectric meta-lens presented here may pave a way in developing high-performance integrated photoconductive terahertz antenna components.

The absorption region of a water-based absorber was expanded by introducing tetramethylurea (TMU) into the inclusion, whose dielectric properties are tunable through the concentration of TMU. The dielectric spectroscopy of a TMU/water mixture was deconstructed using a Debye model. We designed a four-layer ultra-broadband microwave absorber with a supernatant micro-structure. Simulation and experiment results indicate that the absorber can achieve 90% perfect absorption, covering a broad frequency range of 4–40 GHz. The concentration dependence of the absorber was also studied experimentally and numerically. The concentration control provides a more practical and large frequency-region modulation of perfect absorption.

For terahertz integrated systems, an intersection between waveguides is inevitable and is often accompanied by considerable crosstalk and loss. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel type of crossing with a footprint less than $0.2\times 0.2$ mm2 for terahertz surface plasmon polariton waveguiding. The crossing loss is estimated by investigating a sequence of waveguides with one, two and three crossings. By optimizing the crossover structure to suppress crosstalk, the measured loss is as low as -3.86 dB and the crosstalk is less than -19.06 dB/crossing at 0.55 THz. The proposed crossing structure is compact and has low loss and crosstalk within a broad band, which will pave the way for a wide range of new applications for THz integrated systems.

Polarization, which represents the vector nature of electromagnetic waves, plays a fundamental role in optics. Fast, simple, and broadband polarization state characterization is required by applications such as polarization communication, polarimetry, and remote sensing. However, conventional polarization detection methods face great difficulty in determining the phase difference between orthogonal polarization states and often require a series of measurements. Here, we demonstrate how polarization-dependent holography enables direct polarization detection in a single measurement. Using a multiplexed Pancharatnam–Berry phase metasurface, we generate orthogonally polarized holograms that partially overlap with a spatially varying phase difference. Both amplitude and phase difference can be read from the holographic image in the circular polarization basis, facilitating the extraction of all Stokes parameters for polarized light. The metahologram detects polarization reliably at several near-infrared to visible wavelengths, and simulations predict broadband operation in the 580–940 nm spectral range. This method enables fast and compact polarization analyzing devices, e.g., for spectroscopy, sensing, and communications.

Weyl points are discrete locations in the three-dimensional momentum space where two bands cross linearly with each other. They serve as the monopoles of Berry curvature in the momentum space, and their existence requires breaking of either time-reversal or inversion symmetry1–16. Although various non-centrosymmetric Weyl systems have been reported15, demonstration of Weyl degeneracies due to breaking of the time-reversal symmetry remains scarce and is limited to electronic systems17,18. Here, we report the experimental observation of photonic Weyl degeneracies in a magnetized semiconductor—InSb, which behaves as a magnetized plasma19 for electromagnetic waves at the terahertz band. By varying the magnetic field strength, Weyl points and the corresponding photonic Fermi arcs have been demonstrated. Our observation establishes magnetized semiconductors as a reconfigurable20 terahertz Weyl system, which may prompt research on novel magnetic topological phenomena such as chiral Majorana-type edge states and zero modes in classic systems21,22. Photonic Weyl points—topologically chiral singularity points in three-dimensional momentum space—have been realized in a homogeneous non-reciprocal material without a crystal lattice structure.

This article describes the active control of terahertz waves using hybrid metamaterials containing embedded vanadium dioxide. VO${}_{2}$ undergoes an insulator-metal phase transition at around 68 \ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C, causing its conductivity to change by about 5 orders of magnitude, which yields mode switching in the metamaterial. This mode switching, which is analogous to the resonant mode switching seen in plasmonics, can be realized experimentally using thermal, electrical, or optical stimuli. Such a diverse range of stimuli should be very useful for manipulating terahertz waves in practical applications, with a particular eye toward next-generation wireless communication.

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, its conformational behavior is critical for selective biological functions and the process of signal transmission. Although this neuroactive molecule has been extensively studied, its vibrational properties related to the conformation and intermolecular interactions in the terahertz (THz) band have not been identified experimentally yet. In this study, we applied a broadband THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) system from 0.5 to 18 THz to characterize a unique THz fingerprint of GABA. The density functional theory calculation results agree well with the THz experimental spectrum. The study shows that the vibrational modes of GABA at 1.15 and 1.39 THz originate from distinct collective vibrations. The absorptions at the higher THz frequencies also carry part of collective vibrations, but more reflect the specific and local vibrational information, including the skeleton deformation and the rocking of the functional groups, which are closely associated with the conformation and flexibility of GABA. This study may help to understand the conformational transitions of neurotransmitter molecules and the resonant response to THz waves.

The neurotransmitter norepinephrine (NE) was investigated by broadband terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) in the air-plasma system range from 0.5 to 18.2 THz. NE has a unique absorption spectrum in the THz band, which can be used as a characteristic fingerprint for molecular detection and identification. The temperature-dependent THz spectra of NE were recorded in the range from 83 to 293 K, and a blue-shift of the absorption peaks was observed as the temperature decreased. A solid-state density functional theory (DFT) calculation was implemented to better understand the low-frequency vibrational property of NE, and the calculated results agree well with the THz experimental observations. This result suggests that the broadband THz system can obtain more abundant spectral signals of NE and each THz resonance peak has its own specific vibrational mode, which corresponds to a specific structure and interaction. Even with the adjacent absorption peaks, the vibrational behaviors are different. The deformation of the aromatic ring and the flexibility of the side chain directly affect the NE molecular conformation, which may be closely associated with the receptor binding preference for the neurotransmitter. The conformational diversity of NE may help to understand the biological function of the neurotransmitter in the nervous system.

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are surface modes existing at the interface between a metal and a dielectric material. Designer SPPs with a customer-defined property can be supported on the surface of suitably engineered metallic structures. They are important for various applications, ranging from chemical sensing to super-resolution imaging. In conventional systems, SPPs are transverse magnetic (TM) polarized, because of their origin in the collective electron oscillation along the surface. In this work, we show that both transverse electric (TE) and TM designer surface plasmons can be supported at the interface between a suitably designed bianisotropic metamaterial and a normal dielectric material without involving either negative permittivity or negative permeability. We further propose a realistic bianisotropic metamaterial for implementation of the double surface modes. The bianisotropic metamaterial demonstrated here may have tremendous applications in optical information processing and integrated photonic devices.

Supplemental Document

Supplemental document

Graphene reinforced Al (graphene@Al) spheres were synthesized using microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition technique in which H2, CH4, and Ar were used as the reduced gas, carbon source, and plasma enhancement gas, respectively. The obtained graphene@Al spheres presented a rambutan-like structure and had a graphene shell wrapped on the sphere surface, which was proved by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The thickness of the graphene shell on the Al sphere is difficult to be characterized by conventional techniques. However, it was successfully measured with a sophisticated terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopic technique. To the best of our knowledge, neither have graphene@Al spheres been synthesized before nor has a THz-based technique been exploited to characterize the thickness of a shell structure. Therefore, the present work sheds useful insights on both the rational synthesis and non-destructive characterization of graphene reinforced functional structures.

Terahertz spectroscopy provides a powerful and informative link between infrared spectroscopy and microwave spectroscopy, and is now beginning to make its transition from initial development to broader use by chemists, materials scientists and biologists. In this study, utilizing terahertz spectroscopy we monitored the crystallization and isomerization of azobenzene. In flash-frozen trans-azobenzene solutions, the processes of crystallization and phase transition were observed. A new phase has been experimentally confirmed to exist stably at low temperatures. The results on gradual-frozen experiment indicate that the formation of the observed new phase is determined by the cooling rate. Besides, based on the distinctive spectral features of the isomers, the thermal- and photo-induced isomerization processes of azobenzene were investigated. This work presents that the terahertz spectroscopy has a great potential to study the phase transitions and crystallization of liquid samples under different freezing conditions.

Chiral media exhibit optical activity, which manifests itself as differential retardation and attenuation of circularly polarized electromagnetic waves of opposite handedness. This effect can be described by different refractive indices for left- and right-handed waves and yields a negative index in extreme cases. Here we demonstrate active control of chirality, optical activity and refractive index. These phenomena are observed in a terahertz (THz) metamaterial based on three-dimensionally (3D) chiral metallic resonators and achiral vanadium dioxide inclusions. The chiral structure exhibits pronounced optical activity and a negative refractive index at room temperature when vanadium dioxide is in its insulating phase. Upon heating, the insulator-to-metal phase transition of vanadium dioxide effectively renders the structure achiral, resulting in absence of optical activity and a positive refractive index. The origin of the structure’s chiral response is traced to magnetic coupling between front and back of the structure, while the temperature-controlled chiral-to-achiral transition is found to correspond to a transition from magnetic to electric dipole excitations. The use of a fourfold rotationally symmetric design avoids linear birefringence and dichroism, allowing such a structure to operate as tunable polarization rotator, adjustable linear polarization converter and switchable circular polarizer.

Originating from the investigation of condensed matter states, we have discovered a new material with phase transition no-trivial properties——topological insulators. With the progress in artificial metamaterials, the photonic crystals which can give rise to topological edge states that propagate around sharp corners immune to scattering have captured much attention. In this paper, according to the spatial and time reversal symmetry and quantum spin Hall effect theory, we presented a topological photonic crystal made of metallic cylinders at terahertz frequencies. By slightly expanding and shrinking the unit cell, the spatial reversal symmetry was broken and therefore, the band degeneracy was broken, realizing the topological band gap. Unidirectional topological edge states were proven to exist on a domain wall connecting two photonic crystals with opposite topological properties without back-scattering. Then we investigated the reflection spectra of the designed topological photonic crystals in the terahertz regime, which provided a new means to verify topological photonic crystals.

Terahertz (THz) spoof surface plasmon polariton (SPP) waveguides can provide subwavelength confinement, which makes it possible for the THz waves to transmit at low loss over long distances along a metallic surface. This work reports on the design and actualization of an ultra-compact wavelength diplexer formed by THz spoof SPP waveguiding structures. By adding a certain number of periodic pillars in the coupling part of the directional coupler, the refractive index of the anti-symmetrically distributed odd modes can be engineered, thereby adjusting the coupling length. By adjusting the periodic pillar parameters properly, the SPP modes at two target frequencies will be coupled in the device for an odd or even number of times, so that the SPP modes at these two frequencies can be coupled out from different ports. The length of the wavelength diplexer is 1.6 mm, which is about 12.8% of its traditional counterpart. Minimum simulated transmittances of − 24.34 d B and − 26.27 d B can be obtained at 0.637 THz and 0.667 THz, respectively. The insertion losses at the two operating frequencies are less than 0.46 dB, and the extinction ratios are both better than 19 dB. By cascading the proposed diplexers, a compact wavelength demultiplexer with more channels can be obtained, which has important applications for future THz integrated communication systems.

Paper and paper products banknotes play an important role in daily life. Two terahertz (THz) time-domain spectrometers (TDS) with combined spectral coverage from 0.5 to 10 THz were used to characterize the optical properties of several types of paper and banknotes. We found that the paper and banknotes show remarkable fingerprints in the terahertz regime, which are highly related to the vibrational modes of the main component of paper and banknotes — cellulose. Meanwhile, THz transmission imaging measurements had been performed and shown the capability of imaging the key anti-counterfeit labels of banknotes such as watermarks, security threads and optically variable inks. The presented study here indicates that the THz spectroscopy together with the imaging method could provide a visible, contactless and nondestructive alternative to delineating paper and paper product banknotes.

Introducing novel nanomaterials into azobenzene (AB) and its derivatives enables a remarkable influence on the molecular isomerization and thus is of great interest for a variety of applications. We systematically study the thermal and photoinduced isomerization of p-aminoazobenzene (pAAB) directly anchored on MoS2/GO nanocomposites by employing in-situ and real-time surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. The MoS2/GO nanocomposite provides the enhancements for the thermal isomerization efficiency of pAAB of more than 3-fold compared with that of the bare pAAB. We also show that the MoS2/GO nanocomposite has little impact on the UV-induced isomerization of the pAAB, but has apparent impact on the reverse cis-to-trans isomerization of the pAAB under blue light illumination. The results reveal that the effect of MoS2/GO nanocomposite on the photoinduced isomerization of pAAB depends on irradiation wavelength, which can be attributed to the competing interplay of charge transfer and structural relaxation in the hybrid system composed of pAAB and MoS2/GO nanocomposites. The study helps elucidate how the isomerization of azobenzene molecules is affected as incorporated into nanoscale assemblies, and thus open new opportunities for the applications of the isomerization of azobenzene in complex hybrid nanodevices.

Coding metasurfaces, composed of an array of coding particles with discrete phase responses, are encoded with predesigned coding sequences to manipulate wavefronts of electromagnetic (EM) waves and realize novel functionalities such as anomalous beam deflection, broadband diffusion, and polarization conversion. Such a new concept can be viewed as a bridge linking metamaterial and digital codes, yielding the investigation of metamaterials from a digital perspective and eventually the realization of real-time control of EM waves. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a transmission-type coding metasurface to bend normally incident terahertz beams in anomalous directions and generate nondiffractive Bessel beams in normal and oblique directions. To overcome the larger reflection and strong Fabry–Perot resonance that usually originate from a thick silicon substrate, a free-standing design is presented for the coding particle, which is formed by stacking three metallic layers with four polyimide space...

Plasmonic metamaterial absorbers (PMAs) have attracted considerable attention for developing various sensing devices. In this work, we design, fabricate and characterize PMAs of different geometrical shapes operating in mid-infrared frequencies, and explore the applications of the PMAs as sensor for thin films. The PMAs, consisting of metal-insulator-metal stacks with patterned gold nanostructured surfaces (resonators), demonstrated high absorption efficiency (87 to 98 %) of electromagnetic waves in the infrared regime. The position and efficiency of resonance absorption are dependent on the shape of the resonators. Furthermore, the resonance wavelength of PMAs was sensitive to the thin film coated on the surface of the PMAs, which was tested using aluminum oxide (Al2O3) as the film. With increase of the Al2O3 thickness, the position of resonance absorption shifted to longer wavelengths. The dependence of the resonant wavelength on thin film thickness makes PMAs a suitable candidate as a sensor for thin films. Using this sensing strategy, PMAs have potential as a new method for thin film detection and in situ monitoring of surface reactions.

Recent advances in graphene photonics reveal promising applications in the technologically important terahertz spectrum, where graphene-based active terahertz metamaterial modulators have been experimentally demonstrated. However, the sensitivity of the atomically thin graphene monolayer towards sharp Fano resonant terahertz metasurfaces remains unexplored. Here, we demonstrate thin-film sensing of the graphene monolayer with a high quality factor terahertz Fano resonance in metasurfaces consisting of a two-dimensional array of asymmetric resonators. A drastic change in the transmission amplitude of the Fano resonance was observed due to strong interactions between the monolayer graphene and the tightly confined electric fields in the capacitive gaps of the Fano resonator. The deep-subwavelength sensing of the atomically thin monolayer graphene further highlights the extreme sensitivity of the resonant electric field excited at the dark Fano resonance, allowing the detection of an analyte that is λ/1 000 000 thinner than the free space wavelength.

Interest in asymmetric transmission (AT) at terahertz frequencies has increased dramatically in recent years. We present an all-silicon metamaterial to achieve the AT effect for linearly polarized electromagnetic waves in the terahertz regime. The metamaterial is constructed by rectangular silicon pillars and a thick silicon substrate. The magnetic Mie resonance excited by the incident polarized terahertz wave contributes to the AT effect, which is verified by the field distributions. In addition, the rotation angle and dimensions of the silicon pillars are shown to have a great influence on the AT efficiency. The proposed metamaterial with straightforward design has promising applications in polarization control scenarios.

Metasurfaces are 2D engineered structures with subwavelength granularity, offering a wide range of opportunities to tailor the impinging wavefront. However, fundamental limitations on their efficiency in wave transformation, associated with their deeply subwavelength thickness, challenge their implementation in practical application scenarios. Here, it is shown how the coherent control of metagratings through multiple wave excitations can provide new opportunities to achieve highly reconfigurable broadband metasurfaces with large diffraction efficiency, beyond the limitations of conventional approaches. Remarkably, energy distribution between the 0th and higher diffraction orders can be continuously tuned by changing the relative phase difference between two excitation waves, enabling coherent control, with added benefits of enhanced efficiency and bandwidth. This concept is demonstrated for a thin electric metagrating operating at terahertz frequencies, showing that coherent control can overcome several of the limitations of single-layer ultrathin metastructures, and extend their feasibility in various practical scenarios.

Graphene has been recognized as a promising candidate in developing tunable terahertz (THz) functional devices due to its excellent optical and electronic properties, such as high carrier mobility and tunable conductivity. Here, we review graphene-based THz modulators we have recently developed. First, the optical properties of graphene are discussed. Then, graphene THz modulators realized by different methods, such as gate voltage, optical pump, and nonlinear response of graphene are presented. Finally, challenges and prospective of graphene THz modulators are also discussed.

Terahertz (THz) single-pixel near-field imaging, producing images by introducing a scene with a series of spatially resolved subwavelength patterns while recording the correlated intensity on a single-element detector, is a promising technology for imaging applications. Spatial light modulator (SLM) is one of the key devices in THz single-pixel near-field imaging. Combined with a Digital Micromirror Device to shape the optical pump beam, a photo-induced tunable high-efficiency, ultra-thin, and fast THz SLM is presented by integrating designed subwavelength metallic grating into silicon on sapphire. In the experiments, the SLM is demonstrated with an over 60% THz peak amplitude modulation depth and broad bandwidth under a relative low pump fluence (80 μJ/cm2). The measurements, simulations, and calculations agree well with each other. Meanwhile, sub-nanosecond decay time extracted by fitting the |ΔT| curve suggests a fast response device. A two-dimensional grating is also explored, and the polarization-independent feature makes it easier to use. Finally, an imaging demonstration is conducted to verify the usability of the designed device. These results demonstrate the feasibility of realizing super-resolution and even real-time imaging simultaneously.

Mirrors are widely used for redirection of electromagnetic waves in optical systems, making them arguably the most irreplaceable optical component. Metamaterial-based chiral mirrors, composed of a 2D-chiral planar metallic structure backed by a conventional mirror, reflect one circular polarization without changing its handedness, while absorbing the other. Here, three types of switchable chiral mirror are demonstrated. Switching from a chiral mirror to either a conventional mirror, a handedness-preserving mirror, or a chiral mirror of opposite handedness, is realized. These advances are underpinned by switching the handedness of 2D-chiral metamaterial and the associated effect of circular conversion dichroism, which is reported here for the first time. Switching is achieved by exploiting the temperature-activated dielectric-to-metal phase transition of vanadium dioxide to modify the symmetry and chirality of the metamaterial's resonators. Current distributions explain the temperature-controlled optical properties by handedness-selective excitation of reflective electric dipole and absorbing magnetic dipole modes.

A simple approach based on effective medium theory is proposed and applied to evaluate and design a polarization–insensitive antireflection metagrating for terahertz waves. The period of the grating is subwavelength such that there is only one propagating mode within the grating region and high–order diffraction orders do not exist. Thus, the grating region is treated as a homogeneous medium and the whole problem can be modelled as a Fabry–Perot resonator, whose thickness then determines the transmittance. The transmittances of the fabricated device for TE and TM waves at 0.87 THz are measured to be 84% and 95% for an air–silicon surface, respectively. This simple metagrating design will find important applications in antireflection scenarios in the terahertz frequency range.

Terahertz science and technology promise many cutting-edge applications. Terahertz surface plasmonic waves that propagate at metal–dielectric interfaces deliver a potentially effective way to realize integrated terahertz devices and systems. Previous concerns regarding terahertz surface plasmonic waves have been based on their highly delocalized feature. However, recent advances in plasmonics indicate that the confinement of terahertz surface plasmonic waves, as well as their propagating behaviors, can be engineered by designing the surface environments, shapes, structures, materials, etc., enabling a unique and fascinating regime of plasmonic waves. Together with the essential spectral property of terahertz radiation, as well as the increasingly developed materials, microfabrication, and time-domain spectroscopy technologies, devices and systems based on terahertz surface plasmonic waves may pave the way toward highly integrated platforms for multifunctional operation, implementation, and processing of terahertz waves in both fundamental science and practical applications. We present a review on terahertz surface plasmonic waves on various types of supports in a sequence of properties, excitation and detection, and applications. The current research trend and outlook of possible research directions for terahertz surface plasmonic waves are also outlined.

As the building blocks of proteins, amino acids serve vital metabolic functions in addition to protein synthesis and thus attract enormous interest. Here we reported the far-infrared optical properties of L-cysteine (Lcys) and its hydrochloride monohydrate (LCHM) characterized by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The Lcys and LCHM exhibit quite distinct characteristics in the terahertz region due to diverse collective vibrations of the molecules, which is further confirmed by the solid-state density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The presented studies indicate that the intermolecular hydrogen bonds play a critical role in the far-infrared terahertz response of Lcys and LCHM.

We present terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) to explore the conformational dynamics of thermally induced and photoinduced isomerization of azobenzene. The essence of the method is that isomerization of azobenzene proceeds via large structural changes in the molecule, while the THz response is sensitive to these changes. We experimentally demonstrate that the THz spectra of azobenzene show remarkable variations upon heating and irradiation, and as such quantitatively recorded and identified THz spectroscopy can be used to monitor the isomerization process. Specifically, the measured THz spectra clearly reveal that the rate of thermal-isomerization from cis-to-trans in non-polar solvents is faster than that in polar solvents, and an about 6-fold acceleration of the rate could be achieved when Au NPs were introduced as a catalyst into azobenzenes. Moreover, we provide evidence that the temperature and Au NP catalyst do not have an obvious influence on the photoinduced isomerization of azobenzene. The presented example illustrates the power of the THz-TDS method to open up a novel avenue for exploring molecular dynamics.

Metasurfaces refer to planarized ultrathin metamaterials which promise an effective approach to control not only waves in the free space but also surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) which is an attractive form of electromagnetic waves propagating along the interface between typical metals and dielectrics. Topological transition metasurfaces have emerged as a fascinating platform to control SPPs. In this work, we propose topological transition metasurfaces for achieving anomalous terahertz surface wave propagation. Combining different complementary H-shape resonators, we observe anomalous wave propagation at the interface where eigenmode of the resonator experiences topological transition. The proposed metasurfaces open unprecedented venues for anomalous surface wave propagation and guidance which show great capabilities for designing photonic devices.

We present a tunable terahertz (THz) band-pass filter based on electrostatically actuated microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) reconfigurable metamaterials. The unit cell of the filter consists of a U-shaped structure and a fat-T shaped structure. The fat-T shaped structure connects with a movable frame which is actuated by two columns of electrostatic comb actuators. Initially, the filter has two passbands whose central resonance frequencies locate at 0.66 THz and 1.31 THz, respectively. When the actuators are biased with direct currents (DC) voltages, the fat-T shaped structures will move to the U-shaped structures. And thus, the transmition of the peak at 0.66 THz will decrease, and the modulation depth can reach 84.4%. Meanwhile, the resonance frequency of the high-frequency passband shows distinct blueshift, and the largest frequency shift arrives to 0.195 THz. The simulation results obtained from the finite-intergration-technology (FIT) show that these two resonance peaks are produced by two LC resonators on the two arms and one resonator on the bottom of the U-shaped structure. A flinite element analysis (FEA) method is introduced to study the electromechanical performance of the actuator, and a displacement of 4 µm is achieved at DC 120 V. The tunable THz band-pass filter can be applied in THz communication, THz frequency selection and THz sensing.

The influence of an external magnetic field on the picosecond network dynamics of the salt (KCl) solution is investigated by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. Because hydration changes the motions of water molecules clusters, we test hydration by measuring the change of dielectric loss caused by the slow relaxation of water molecules clusters. We find experimentally that the magnetic field enhances the number of water molecules involved in hydration and the radius of dynamic hydration layer in salt solutions. However, with the increasing concentration, there is a downward in the hydration enhancement per equivalent. Meanwhile, the simulated results show the number of water molecules in hydration layers increases which is consistent with our experimental results. Besides, the simulation reveals that external magnetic field mainly affects the second hydration layer and the stability of water molecules network in hydration layer is enhanced with external magnetic field.

Wave dynamics on curved surfaces has attracted growing attention due to its close resemblance to the warped space time governed by general relativity. It also opens up opportunities for designing functional optical devices such as geodesic lenses. In this work we study the wave dynamics on the surface of a torus, a shape of considerable interest due to its nontrivial topology. Governed by the conservation of angular momentum, light propagates on the torus in two different types of modes: one is able to twist around and sweep through the whole surface of the torus; the other is confined within a certain angular range along the torus latitude direction. The confined mode exhibits an interesting self focusing or imaging behavior, which, similar to a geometric lens, shows no dependence of wavelength and thus suffers no chromatic aberration. By changing the geometric parameters of the torus, both the focusing point and the focusing distance can be controlled. Our work provides a new approach to manipulation of light propagation on a curved surface under the conservation of angular momentum.

The work was supported by the Australian Research Council (Grant number FT160100153) and the Strategic Fund of the Australian National University. A portion of this research was conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. The authors also acknowledge support from the Singapore Ministry of Education AcRF Tier 1 (Grant RG191/17). K.K. acknowledges a support from the Russian Science Foundation (grant 18-72-10140).

As the key concept in fabricating integrated device, surface plasmon-polaritons (SPPs) have been widely employed to artificially manipulate the electromagnetic waves in metallic surfaces. However, due to the highly structure-dependent resonance of SPPs, it is challengeable to develop a fixed device which can function at wide band. Here, we propose a novel broadband and robust SPPs directional coupler based on the tri-layered curved waveguides working at terahertz (THz) frequencies, where the coupling of SPPs between the adjacent waveguides can be modeled with coupled mode theory. By introducing the stimulated raman adiabatic passage quantum control technique, we achieve the complete transfer of SPPs from the input to the output waveguides in the range of 0.9–1.3 THz, and even considering the propagation loss, the transfer rate is still above 70%. Furthermore, the performance of our device is eminently robust because of its insensitivity to the geometry of structure and the wavelength of SPPs. As a result, our device can tolerate defect induced by fabrication processing and manipulate THz waves at broadband. This finding provides a new theoretical guideline in promoting THz on-demand applications, which is of significance in developing integrated THz devices.

To fill the ``terahertz gap'' in frequency, where many materials do not interact effectively with light, systems with tunable absorption are still needed. The authors design and demonstrate a Fano-type metasurface supporting controllable coherent perfect absorption---lasing in reverse, essentially---, the experimental results being well described by coupled-mode theory. A transition from single- to dual-band operation is effected by simply changing the angle of incidence. This system offers the potential to realize dynamic THz modulators in conjunction with electrically driven vibration devices, and absorptive interferometers for switches and imaging.

Ultrathin metasurfaces with local phase compensation deliver new schemes to cloaking devices. We demonstrate a remarkable large size carpet cloak realized by an ultrathin metasurface at terahertz frequencies. The metasurface cloak is constructed by periodically arranging 12 different elements. The reflected wave front is perfectly reconstructed by an ultrathin metasurface cloak, which perform well under both intensity-sensitive and phase-sensitive detectors. The invisibility is verified when the cloak is placed on a reflecting triangular surface (bump). The multi-step discrete phase design method would greatly simplify the design process and is probable to achieve large-dimension cloaks, for applications in radar and antenna systems as a thin and easy-to-fabricate solution for radio and terahertz frequencies.

In the terahertz regime, due to perfect conductivity of most metals, it is hard to realize a strong confinement of Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) although a propagation loss could be sufficiently low. We experimentally demonstrated a structure with periodic pillars arranged on a thin metal surface that supports bound modes of spoof SPPs at terahertz (THz) frequencies. By using scanning near-field THz microscopy, the electric field distribution above the metal surface within a distance of 130 μm was mapped. The results proved that this structure could guide spoof SPPs propagating along subwavelength waveguides, and at the same time reduce field expansion into free space. Further, for the development of integrated optical circuits, several components including straight waveguide, S-bend, Y-splitter and directional couplers were designed and characterized by the same method. We believe that the waveguide components proposed here will pave a new way for the development of flexible, wideband and compact photonic circuits operating at THz frequencies.