arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Weili Zhang.
Using terahertz time domain spectroscopy we demonstrate tunable polarization rotation and circular dichroism in intrinsically nonchiral planar terahertz metamaterials without twofold rotational symmetry. The observed effect is due to extrinsic chirality arising from the mutual orientation of the metamaterial plane and the propagation direction of the incident terahertz wave.
We demonstrate thermally tunable superconductor hole array with active control over their resonant transmission induced by surface plasmon polaritons . The array was lithographically fabricated on high temperature YBCO superconductor and characterized by terahertz-time domain spectroscopy. We observe a clear transition from the virtual excitation of the surface plasmon mode to the real surface plasmon mode. The highly tunable superconducting plasmonic hole arrays may have promising applications in the design of low-loss, large dynamic range amplitude modulation, and surface plasmon based terahertz devices.
We characterize the behaviour of split ring resonators made up of high-transition temperature YBCO superconductor using terahertz time domain spectroscopy. The superconductor metamaterial shows sharp change in the transmission spectrum at the fundamental inductive-capacitive resonance and the dipole resonance as the temperature dips below the transition temperature. Our results reveal that the high performance of such a metamaterial is limited by material imperfections and defects such as cracks, voids and secondary phases which play dominant role in partially impeding the flow of current causing dissipation of energy and electrical resistance to appear in the superconductor film.
The invisibility cloak has been a long-standing dream for many researchers over the decades. By transforming space and light propagation, a three-dimensional (3D) object can be perceived as having reduced number of dimensions, in the form of points, lines, and thin sheets, making it "undetectable" judging from scattered field. Although a variety of cloaking devices have been reported at microwave and optical frequencies, the Terahertz (THz) domain remains unexplored. Moreover, it should be noted that all the previous experimental demonstrations are performed in a two-dimensional (2D) waveguide configuration. Although those works represent a critical step in validating the concept of the invisibility cloak, one would expect the cloaking device to be realized in 3D with the ability to cloak an object of realistic size. This requires the construction of an optically large cloaking device with features much smaller than the wavelength. Fabricating 3D structures with aspect ratio close to 100:1 is obviously a challenging task. Here, we report an experimental demonstration of a 3D THz ground plane cloak. Reflection terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) was employed to characterize the cloaking samples. Two distinct reflection peaks can be clearly observed across a broad frequency range, which is caused by the reflection at the surface of the bump. The measured peak positions are consistent with the numerical simulation peak positions. By contrast, in the spectral map of the cloak sample, the wavefront is relatively smooth with a single peak.
Optical properties of planar thin film metamaterials were measured at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The operation of metamaterials at cryogenic temperatures is anticipated to be a promising path towards low-loss metamaterials since nonradiative losses are strongly suppressed due to higher charge mobility. A 14% increase in the quality factor of the resonances was experimentally observed. It was limited by the high electron scattering rate due to defects in thin films. Supplementary simulations assuming metamaterials made of thick films reveal a temperature controlled behaviour and a 40% increase of the Q-factor at 10 K.
Using terahertz time domain spectroscopy we investigate the normal incidence transmission through periodically and randomly arranged planar split ring resonators (SRRs). Introduction of positional disorder in metamaterials has no effect on the quality factor of the fundamental Inductive-Capacitive (LC) resonance. The dipole resonances undergo broadening and shift in their resonance frequencies. The experiment reveals that the randomly distributed SRR structures interact incoherently at LC resonance but couple coherently at the higher frequency dipole resonance.
We experimentally demonstrate at terahertz frequencies that a planar metamaterial exhibits a spectral response resembling electromagnetically induced transparency. The metamaterial unit cell consists of a split ring surrounded by another closed ring where their dimensions are such that their excitable lowest order modes have identical resonance frequencies but very different life times. Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy verifies that the interference of these two resonances results in a narrow transparency window located within a broad opaque region. In contrast to previous studies this enhanced transmission is achieved by independently exciting two resonances in which their coupling to the radiation field, and thus their linewidth, differs strongly. Rigorous numerical simulations prove that the transparency window is associated with a large group index and low losses, making the design potentially useful for slow light applications. This experiment opens an avenue to explore quantum mechanical phenomena using localized resonances in metallic structures,
Terahertz time domain spectroscopy and rigorous simulations are used to probe the coupling between a dark and a bright plasmonic eigenmode in a metamaterial with broken symmetry. The metamaterial consists of two closely spaced split ring resonators that have their gaps in non-identical positions within the ring. For normal incidence and a fixed polarization both lowest order eigenmodes of the split ring resonators can be excited; although one of them has to be regarded as dark since coupling is prohibited because of symmetry constraints. Emphasis in this work is put on a systematic evaluation of the coupling effects depending on a spectral tuning of both resonances.
Negative index metamaterials (NIMs) give rise to unusual and intriguing properties and phenomena, which may lead to important applications such as superlens, subwavelength cavity and slow light devices. However, the negative refractive index in metamaterials normally requires a stringent condition of simultaneously negative permittivity and negative permeability. A new class of negative index metamaterials - chiral NIMs, have been recently proposed. In contrast to the conventional NIMs, chiral NIMs do not require the above condition, thus presenting a very robust route toward negative refraction. Here we present the first experimental demonstration of a chiral metamaterial exhibiting negative refractive index down to n=-5 at terahertz frequencies, with only a single chiral resonance. The strong chirality present in the structure lifts the degeneracy for the two circularly polarized waves and relieves the double negativity requirement. Chiral NIM are predicted to possess intriguing electromagnetic properties that go beyond the traditional NIMs, such as opposite signs of refractive indices for the two circular polarizations and negative reflection. The realization of terahertz chiral NIMs offers new opportunities for investigations of their novel electromagnetic properties, as well as important terahertz device applications.
In this study, we illustrate the effective medium theories in the designs of three-dimensional composite metametails of both negative permittivity and permeability. The proposed metamaterials consist of coated spheres embedded in a dielectric host. Simple design rules and formulas following the effective medium models are numerically and analytically presented. We demonstrate that the revised Maxwell-Garnett effective medium theory enables us to design three-dimensional composite metamaterials through assembly of coated small spheres. The proposed approach allows for precise control of the permittivity and permeability and guides a facile, flexible and versatile way for the fabrication of composite metamaterials.
We report far-infrared dielectric properties of powder form ferroelectric SrTiO3. Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) measurement reveals that the low-frequency dielectric response of SrTiO3 is a consequence of the lowest transverse optical (TO) soft mode TO1 at 2.70 THz (90.0 1/cm), which is directly verified by Raman spectroscopy. This result provides a better understanding of the relation of low-frequency dielectric function with the optical phonon soft mode for ferroelectric materials. Combining THz-TDS with Raman spectra, the overall low-frequency optical phonon response of SrTiO3 is presented in an extended spectral range from 6.7 1/cm to 1000.0 1/cm.