Efficient terahertz electro-absorption modulation employing graphene plasmonic structures

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel graphene-based terahertz electro-absorption modulator utilizing plasmonic structures to achieve high modulation depths up to 100% at frequencies up to tens of THz.

Contribution

The work presents a new design of graphene plasmonic structures for efficient terahertz modulation, overcoming limitations at high frequencies.

Findings

Reflectance-based configurations enable near 100% modulation depth.

Device operates effectively at frequencies up to tens of THz.

Graphene plasmonic structures enhance control of THz absorption.

Abstract

We propose and discuss terahertz electro-absorption modulators based on graphene plasmonic structures. The active device consists of a self-gated pair of graphene layers, which are patterned to structures supporting THz plasmonic resonances. These structures allow for efficient control of the effective THz optical conductivity, thus absorption, even at frequencies much higher than the Drude roll-off in graphene where most previously proposed graphene-based devices become inefficient. Our analysis shows that reflectance-based device configurations, engineered so that the electric field is enhanced in the active graphene pair, could achieve very high modulation-depth, even ~100%, at any frequency up to tens of THz.