TY - JOUR
T1 - High performance spatial light modulators for terahertz applications
AU - Ferdous Hoque, Md Nadim
AU - Karaoglan-Bebek, Gulten
AU - Holtz, Mark
AU - Bernussi, Ayrton A.
AU - Fan, Zhaoyang
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge support for this work from NSF (ECCS 1128644 ).
Publisher Copyright:
©2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PY - 2015/9/1
Y1 - 2015/9/1
N2 - We demonstrate large-contrast, low-crosstalk, low-power, and broadband spatial light modulators (SLMs) for operation at terahertz (THz) frequencies. The electro-thermally activated SLMs rely on the insulator-metal-phase transition of two VO2 thin films deposited on opposite sides of a sapphire substrate. We validated the effectiveness of our approach by fabricating and testing 2×2 pixel SLM prototypes. Record high amplitude modulation depth of 96%, -30 dB pixel-to-pixel crosstalk and precise THz transmission control was determined for the fabricated SLMs over a broad range of THz frequencies. Raster scanning THz transmission revealed excellent pixel uniformity with very large on/off contrast. These attributes are fundamental for high-contrast THz imaging and spectroscopy applications.
AB - We demonstrate large-contrast, low-crosstalk, low-power, and broadband spatial light modulators (SLMs) for operation at terahertz (THz) frequencies. The electro-thermally activated SLMs rely on the insulator-metal-phase transition of two VO2 thin films deposited on opposite sides of a sapphire substrate. We validated the effectiveness of our approach by fabricating and testing 2×2 pixel SLM prototypes. Record high amplitude modulation depth of 96%, -30 dB pixel-to-pixel crosstalk and precise THz transmission control was determined for the fabricated SLMs over a broad range of THz frequencies. Raster scanning THz transmission revealed excellent pixel uniformity with very large on/off contrast. These attributes are fundamental for high-contrast THz imaging and spectroscopy applications.
KW - Metal-insulator transition
KW - Modulator
KW - THz spatial light modulator
KW - VO<inf>2</inf>
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84927915259&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.optcom.2015.04.022
DO - 10.1016/j.optcom.2015.04.022
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84927915259
VL - 350
SP - 309
EP - 314
JO - Optics Communications
JF - Optics Communications
SN - 0030-4018
ER -