A metamaterial modulator based on electrically controllable electromagnetically induced transparency

TL;DR

This paper presents a metamaterial-based electromagnetic modulator that uses electrically controllable EIT to achieve significant modulation contrast, enabling active control of light flow in metamaterials for practical applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel electrically tunable metamaterial modulator utilizing a diode-loaded structure to control EIT spectrum dynamically.

Findings

Achieved up to 31 dB modulation contrast in transmission.

Demonstrated control of EIT spectrum in three narrow bands.

Confirmed modulation through experimental measurements.

Abstract

Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is a promising technology for the enhancement of light-matter interactions, and recent demonstrations of the quantum EIT realized in artificial micro-structured medium have remarkably reduced the extreme requirement for experimental observation of EIT spectrum. In this paper, we propose to electrically control the EIT spectrum in a metamaterial for an electromagnetic modulator. A diode acting as a tunable resistor is loaded in the gap of two paired wires to inductively tune the magnetic resonance, which induces remarkable modulation on the EIT spectrum through the metamaterial sample. The experimental measurements confirmed that the prediction of electromagnetic modulation in three narrow bands on the EIT spectrum, and a modulation contrast of up to 31 dB was achieved on the transmission through the metamaterial. Our results may facilitate the study on active/dynamical technology in translational metamaterials, which connect extraordinary manipulations on the flow of light in metamaterials, e.g., the exotic EIT, and practical applications in industry.