Open Access

ARTICLE

Active Metamaterials for Modulation and Detection

Sameer R. Sonkusale¹, Wangren Xu¹, Saroj Rout¹

1 NanoLab, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tufts University, 161 College Ave, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.

Computers, Materials & Continua 2014, 39(3), 301-315. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmc.2014.039.301

Abstract

This paper illustrates some new concepts in the area of hybrid metamaterials, which are metamaterials that are embedded with active circuit elements such as transistors. Such transistor/metamaterial hybrids can exhibit some exotic electromagnetic properties which can be exploited for unusual and exciting functions. Two specific examples are provided. In one application, terahertz (THz) modulator based on embedding of psuedomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) within the metamaterial resonator, all implemented monolithically in a commercial gallium arsenide (GaAs) technology is presented. In another application, a detector array based on metamaterial perfect absorber for room-temperature detection of gigahertz (GHz) radiation within each sub wavelength metamaterial unit cell is presented. The latter application utilizes a hybridization of metamaterial on printed circuit board (PCB) with discrete microwave electronic components. Both applications indicate the promise of the approach of integrating electronics or semiconductor devices with metamaterials for new and innovative functions.

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Keywords

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