Terahertz Transmissive Half-Wave Metasurface With Enhanced Bandwidth

Polarization conversion is useful for studies of chiral structures in biology and chemistry, and for polarization diversity in communications. It is conventionally realized with wave plates, which, however, present challenges due to limited material availability, as well as narrow bandwidth and low efficiency at terahertz frequencies. To enhance bandwidth and efficiency, the concept of the Huygens' metasurface is adopted here for a transmissive half-wave plate. The half-wave metasurface is designed following the optimal frequency-independent circuit parameters provided by a broadband semi-analytical approach. Simulation results of an optimal design suggest that a 15-dB extinction ratio can be sustained from 219 GHz to 334 GHz, corresponding to a fractional bandwidth of 41.6%. The measured results indicate that the fabricated structure enables a 15-dB extinction ratio from 220 GHz to 303 GHz, with a cross-polarization transmission efficiency above 76.7% for both linear and circular polarizations. This half-wave metasurface design can be readily integrated into compact terahertz systems for diverse applications. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America