Tunable VO2 metasurface for reflective terahertz linear and circular polarization wavefront manipulation at two frequencies independently

Abstract

In this work, a tunable VO2 metasurface (MS) is proposed and numerically demonstrated in the terahertz (THz) region, which can independently manipulate reflected linearly polarized (LP) and circularly polarized (CP) wavefronts at two frequencies independently. The unit-cell of the proposed VO2 MS consists of a metallic circular ring (CR) structure, rectangular-shaped-patch (RSP) and circular-double-split-ring (CDSR) structure VO2 adhered on a dielectric substrate by a bottom metallic ground plane. The proposed MS structure enables the reflected cross-polarization conversion of LP waves at lower frequencies (fL = 1.34 THz) and CP waves at higher frequencies (fH = 2.53 THz), respectively. By changing the external temperature, the conductivity of the VO2 RSP and CDSR structures can be adjusted dynamically. By varying the conductivity of the VO2, the proposed MS can achieve a reflected LP conversion with efficiency from 0% to 98.86% at lower frequency of 1.34 THz and the reflected CP conversion with efficiency from 0% to 81.86% at higher frequency of 2.53 THz. Moreover, the corresponding modulation depths of this MS are as high as 98.86% and 81.86% at two different frequencies, respectively. Moreover, a 2π phase shift can be realized by the transmission phase and geometric phase principles at lower and higher frequencies, respectively. Finally, two VO2 MSs have been constructed to achieve the reflection deflection for both CP and LP waves, and reflective CP focusing and LP vortex beam generation, respectively. These findings are favorable for expanding the range of temperature-controlled VO2 MS for wavefront manipulation, thereby opening up new possibilities for the development of advanced, tunable, and multifunctional THz devices that can handle both LP and CP waves.