Implementation of conformal digital metasurfaces for THz polarimetric sensing

TL;DR

This paper introduces a conformal digital metasurface polarimeter capable of detecting multiple polarization states of THz waves with high reflectivity and angle tolerance, using VO2 microwires for reconfigurable sensing.

Contribution

It presents the first conformal digital metamaterial absorber for THz polarization detection, utilizing bias-controlled VO2 microwires for reconfigurable and accurate polarization state estimation.

Findings

Achieves over 90% absorptivity for various polarizations

Detects four independent polarization states effectively

Operates with high angular tolerance up to 50 degrees

Abstract

Monitoring and controlling the state of polarization of electromagnetic waves is of significant interest for various basic and practical applications such as linear position sensing and medical imaging. Here, we propose the first conformal digital metamaterial absorber to detect the polarization state of THz incident waves. The proposed polarimeter is capable of characterizing four independent polarization states of (TE, TM, $\pm {45^\circ}$ linear, and RCP/LCP) by observing the reflectivity of the structure with respect to the x- and y-direction. Besides, the proposed structure displays a strong absorptivity above 90\% up to the incidence angle of $50^{\circ}$ for oblique incident waves with different polarizations. By mere changing the bias voltage of two orthogonal VO2 microwires via two independent computer-programmed multichannel DC network, distinct conditions for reflected waves occurs under excitations of different polarizations, whereby the polarization state of the incident wave may readily be estimated. We believe that the proposed metasurface-based polarimeter can pave the way for polarization detection applications on curved surfaces.