Graphene-enabled reconfigurable terahertz wavefront modulator based on complete Fermi level modulated phase

Abstract

Although great achievements have been obtained in metasurfaces so far, the functionalities of these devices are almost static. The dynamically adjustable devices are far less explored. Here we theoretically and numerically demonstrate a veritable reconfigurable terahertz wavefront modulator (TWM). The designed TWM can dynamically shape the wavefront at will via imposing different Fermi levels on the constituent graphene ribbons. By adopting the Dirac brackets and Matrix analyze method, the correlation between the phase shift and Fermi level is theoretically established, which offers a general scheme for designing dynamically switchable devices. As a proof of concept, three different sets of pre-calculated Fermi levels are imposed on the graphene ribbons. The TWM can be dynamically switched among back reflector, varifocal metalens and Airy beam generator, which has never been demonstrated before as far as we know. The proposed reconfigurable TWM owns the capability of dynamically steering terahertz wavefront, indicating great significance for the development of THz reconfigurable devices.

Keywords

• graphene
• metasurfaces
• reconfigurable
• Fermi level modulation