Metamaterials subwavelength terahertz resonant cavities

M Al-Rubaiee,A Argyros,S C Fleming,A H Al-Janabi

doi:10.1186/s41476-021-00157-8

Abstract

One of the unique properties of metamaterials is the ability to manipulate electromagnetic waves at subwavelength scales, made possible by their structure on these scales. Here, rather than consider effective bulk properties, we consider the properties of microscopic features based on considering resonant unit cells. We used wire array metamaterials to form localized resonant cavities by changing the resonance frequency of one or more unit cells, surrounded by unchanged unit cells that do not support resonance for the propagating mode (i.e. forming a band gap). We validate our approach experimentally with electromagnetic waves in the terahertz range, demonstrating and characterizing subwavelength resonant cavities in this range. These resonant cavities can pave the way for ultra-compact subwavelength waveguides and other optical components.

Highlights

Wave propagation control is of fundamental interest in many areas of engineering and physics
One of the designs that has proven its efficiency in controlling electromagnetic waves is the photonic crystal [1, 2]
Metamaterials can control wave propagation at deep subwavelength spatial scales potentially enabling applications in nano-sensors directly on chip [6,7,8]. They are usually metal-dielectric composites capable of achieving unique electromagnetic properties not encountered in natural materials [9,10,11]. This deep subwavelength feature of metamaterials gives an advantage over photonic crystals in terms of wave manipulation [3, 12, 13]

Summary

Introduction

Wave propagation control is of fundamental interest in many areas of engineering and physics. Metamaterials can control wave propagation at deep subwavelength spatial scales potentially enabling applications in nano-sensors directly on chip [6,7,8]. They are usually metal-dielectric composites capable of achieving unique electromagnetic properties not encountered in natural materials [9,10,11]. This deep subwavelength feature of metamaterials gives an advantage over photonic crystals in terms of wave manipulation [3, 12, 13]. For some properties it is necessary to go beyond this effective medium paradigm; in this work a microscopic approach has been used to

Methods

Results

Conclusion