Terahertz Metasurface Modulators Based on Photosensitive Silicon

Abstract Metasurfaces solve the lack of materials in the terahertz (THz) band and control precisely the amplitude, phase, polarization, and transmission characteristics of THz waves, providing an effective way to realize THz functional devices. This article focuses on the design of THz metasurface modulators with a unit structure consisting of metal square rings, including resonance frequency, phase, and amplitude modulators. By embedding photosensitive semiconductor silicon (Si) in the unit structure, the unit structure is built from meta‐atom to molecularization model under the optical pumping condition, and the resonance frequencies are switched between high and low frequencies. The resonance frequency switchable characteristic is demonstrated using the equivalent LC oscillation circuit model, and the theoretical calculation results agree well with the simulations. Through theoretical calculations, the modulators achieve ultrafast switching times of less than 0.141 ps by the optical pumps, which have significant advantages in ultrafast THz modulators. By continuing to change the embedded position of the silicon in the unit structure, not only is a wide range of THz phase modulation achieved, but also multilevel modulation of the phase is realized. It is found that there is a strong relationship between the modulation depth and phase variation of THz waves, and a reasonable analysis is given. Further the amplitude modulator with a larger modulation depth (MD) is developed, and when the conductivity of photosensitive semiconductor silicon (σ Si ) reaches 2.5 × 10 6 S m −1 , return loss (RL) is ≈0 dB, and the maximum MD reaches ≈100%; in order to gain insight into the nature of modulation, the modulation mechanism of THz waves under optical pumping conditions is analyzed. In addition, graphene‐based THz metasurface amplitude modulators are designed. When the depth of amplitude modulation is achieved by bias voltage modulation of the Fermi energy level of graphene, the maximum modulation amplitude is 23.42 dB, with a minimal modulation accuracy of 0.05 THz eV −1 . In the article, the designed modulators have extremely excellent modulation performance. It has great potential applications in silicon‐based THz photonic devices, ultrahigh frequency electronic devices, high sensitivity sensors, and high‐precision imaging.