Title:
Fiber drawn THz devices: from metamaterials to flexible waveguides
Abstract:
The ability to co-process different materials at the same time in a thermal process opens up the possibility to realize volumetric and scalable multimaterial and multifunctional devices with operation spanning from the UV to the microwaves. Combining optical, mechanical and electronical properties of dielectrics (such as glass and polymers) and metals enables a plethora of applications in radiation manipulation.
I will present our recent research with focus on applications at THz frequencies. I will show how including longitudinally invariant metal structures (wires and slotted cylinders) into dielectrics can be used to realize metamaterial devices, i.e. hyperlenses, hyperprisms and waveguides. These devices are used for subdiffraction imaging and focusing (all the way to λ/176), and for the excitation of high-k modes for coupling to plasmonic structures. I will also discuss the use of a new soft-polymer to realize tunable metamaterials and flexible centimeter sized waveguides for THz radiation. These favorable mechanical properties allow twisting of the waveguide and consequent conversion of the fundamental mode to a mode with orbital angular momentum, the spiraling nature of which can be captured with THz time domain spectroscopy.