Graphene-loaded metal wire grating for deep and
broadband THz modulation in total internal
reflection geometry
YIWEN SUN,
1
RICCARDO DEGL’INNOCENTI,
2
DAVID A. RITCHIE,
2
HARVEY E. BEERE,
2
LONG XIAO,
2,3
MICHAEL RUGGIERO,
4
J. AXEL ZEITLER,
5
RAYKO I. STANTCHEV,
6
DANNI CHEN,
7
ZHENGCHUN PENG,
7
EMMA MACPHERSON,
6,8
AND XUDONG LIU
1,
*
1
National-Regional Key Technology Engineering Laboratory for Medical Ultrasound, Guangdong Key Laboratory for Biomedical Measurements
and Ultrasound Imaging, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
2
Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, J J Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
3
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
4
Department of Chemistry, University of Vermont, 82 University Place, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA
5
Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3RA, UK
6
Department of Electronic Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
7
Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Optoelectronic Devices and Systems, College of Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University,
Shenzhen 518060, China
8
Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
*Corresponding author: xdliu@szu.edu.cn
Received 20 August 2018; revised 9 October 2018; accepted 24 October 2018; posted 26 October 2018 (Doc. ID 342721);
published 21 November 2018
We employed a metallic wire grating loaded with graphene and operating in total internal reflection (TIR)
geometry to realize deep and broadband THz modulation. The non-resonant field enhancement effect of the
evanescent wave in TIR geometry and in the subwavelength wire grating was combined to demonstrate a
∼77% modulation depth (MD) in the frequency range of 0.2–1.4 THz. This MD, achieved electrically with
a SiO
2
∕Si gated graphene device, was 4.5 times higher than that of the device without a metal grating in trans-
mission geometry. By optimizing the parameters of the metallic wire grating, the required sheet conductivity of
graphene for deep modulation was lowered to 0.87 mS. This work has potential applications in THz commu-
nication and real-time THz imaging.
© 2018 Chinese Laser Press
https://doi.org/10.1364/PRJ.6.001151
1. INTRODUCTION
THz modulators are essential devices for THz communication
and real-time THz imaging [1–3]. To image with modulators,
one imparts a spatial pattern onto a beam of radiation, which
then propagates through an object and onto a single-element
detector. The measured signal is a correlation between the spa-
tial pattern and the object’s spatial transmission function;
hence, by measuring the THz signal with multiple mask
patterns through one detec tor, the image of an object can
be reconstructed [4,5]. This approach has been able to detect
sub-THz wavelength fissures in circuitry hidden by optically
opaque silicon [6]. Using single-element detectors has two
advantages: first, they are cheaper and more robust compared
to imaging arrays, and, second, THz imaging arrays have very
narrow bands [7,8], hindering applications. Thus, there is a
necessity to overcome the challenges and design and fabricate
efficient and broadband THz modulators. In our previous
work, photoexcited high-resistivity Si was used to achieve an
∼100% broadband THz modulation [9], but electrical meth-
ods of modulating THz are more versatile, compact, and energy
saving than an optical system, and no extra laser is needed.
Electrical graphene devices can provide MHz-level modulation
speed, which is important for rapid THz imaging [10]. The
graphene–silicon plasmonic crystal structure was also reported
for the THz signal amplification and modulation [11,12 ].
However, the electrical approach suffers from low modulation
depth (MD) [13–15]; assistant structures to improve the MD
bring in narrowband features [16–18]. Other designs for THz
modulators have also been reported, such as a metamaterial in-
tegrated liquid crystal design, which showed a MD of 75% but
at a single frequency; high-speed THz modulators based on gra-
phene were reported [10,15], but again, the MD was low, and
Research Article
Vol. 6, No. 12 / December 2018 / Photonics Research 1151
2327-9125/18/121151-07 Journal © 2018 Chinese Laser Press