Terahertz metasurface zone plates with arbitrary polarizations to a fixed polarization conversion

Abstract

Metasurfaces that can realize the polarization manipulation of electromagnetic waves on the sub-wavelength scale have become an emerging research field. Here, a novel strategy of combining the metasurface and Fresnel zone plate to form a metasurface zone plate is proposed to realize the conversion from nearly arbitrary polarizations to a fixed polarization. Specifically, when one polarized wave is incident on adjacent ring zones constructed by different types of meta-atoms, the transmitted waves generated by odd-numbered and even-numbered ring zones converge at the same focus and superimpose to generate a fixed polarized wave. As function demonstrations, we have designed two types of metasurface zone plates: one is a focused linear polarizer, and the other can convert nearly arbitrary polarized waves into focused circularly polarized waves. The simulated and measured results are consistent with theoretical expectations, suggesting that the proposed concept is flexible and feasible. Our work provides an alternative platform for polarization manipulation and may vigorously promote the development of polarization photonic devices.

Keywords

• metasurface zone plates
• polarization
• conversion
• terahertz