Bi-material terahertz sensors using metamaterial structures

Abstract

In this paper we report on the design, fabrication and characterization of terahertz (THz) bi-material sensors with metamaterial absorbers. MEMS fabrication-friendly SiOx and Al are used to maximize the bimetallic effect and metamaterial absorption at 3.8 THz, the frequency of a quantum cascade laser illumination source. Sensors with different configurations were fabricated and the measured absorption is near 100% and responsivity is around 1.2 deg/μW, which agree well with finite element simulations. The results indicate the potential of using these detectors to fabricate focal plane arrays for real time THz imaging.