Terahertz magneto-optical metadevice for active spin-selective beam steering and energy distribution with nonreciprocal isolation

Abstract

Active beam steering and energy distribution have important applications for terahertz (THz) communication, radar, and imaging. However, the spin-conjugated mirror symmetry of a passive Pancharatnam–Berry (PB) metasurface limits the active energy distribution. Here, we prepared a low dispersion, low loss, and high magneto-optical coefficient La:YIG single crystal, ±45∘ Faraday rotation angle that can be actively tuned by a weak magnetic field in broadband THz range at room temperature. Based on this functional material, a THz magneto-optical (MO) spin-modulated metadevice has been demonstrated, which is integrated with a La:YIG, an anisotropic metasurface, and a PB metasurface layer. The spin-conjugated mirror symmetry is broken by the MO chirality effect and photonic spin Hall effect in this metadevice so that spin-selective beam steering within the range of ±27∘−±41∘ is dynamically manipulated by external magnetic fields and power distribution can be tuned with the max modulation depth of 91.6%. More importantly, the MO crystal introduces nonreciprocal phase shift between two spin states so that the device not only achieves active THz beam steering but also provides isolation for reflected waves with the max isolation of 23 dB. This mechanism of THz nonreciprocal spin beam steering provides multiple functions for THz point-to-point networking communication, anti-shielding, anti-interference, and power distribution.