Vectorial Currents and Broadband Terahertz Vector Beams with Optoelectronic Metasurfaces

While fundamental to many scientific and technological applications, capabilities for controlling charge currents remain highly restricted, particularly at modern limiting nanometer spatial and femtosecond temporal scales. Here, we demonstrate a novel method for versatile ultrafast light-based current control within new class of optoelectronic metasurfaces. Local directional charge flows in the graphene layer underlying each gold nanoantenna conspire to millimeter-scale currents, as characterized via terahertz (THz) emission. Implementing largearea vector arrays as efficient sources, we introduce readily frequency- and polarization- tunable broadband cylindrical vector beam generation in the THz range, toward applications in information science, charge acceleration, THz spectroscopies, and THz imaging.