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Capture of a terahertz wave in a photonic-crystal slab

Nature Photonics volume 8, pages 657–663 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

With many potential applications in mind, great effort is being applied to develop a terahertz-wave technology platform on which waves can be manipulated with sufficient confinement and efficient interaction for the development of smart components. Here, we utilize the in-plane resonance of a thin, planar photonic-crystal slab with negligible absorption loss to successfully demonstrate and visualize terahertz-wave trapping. We artificially introduce free carriers, which interact with the trapped waves, and capture them in the slab by absorption. Our system exhibits an experimental absorptivity (interaction efficiency) of ∼99% and a broad bandwidth (absorptivity of ≥90%) that covers 17% of the centre frequency. We also demonstrate its application to the stabilization of terahertz wireless communication systems. Our study shows the capability of photonic crystals as a terahertz-wave platform, the application of which may be extended to other components including filters, couplers, antennas, detectors, modulators, switches and emitters.

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Figure 1: Concept of THz-wave trapping for broadband operation.
Figure 2: Design of photonic-crystal THz-wave absorber.
Figure 3: Fabricated photonic crystal.
Figure 4: Spectrograms of reflection from samples for demonstration of THz-wave trapping and capture.
Figure 5: Absorption spectra.
Figure 6: Application of photonic-crystal absorber to the THz communication system.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for scientific research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, by the Strategic Information and Communications R&D Promotion Programme (SCOPE) from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan, by the Osaka University Multidisciplinary Research Laboratory System and by the Murata Science Foundation. The authors thank Y. Minamikata, A. Kaku, S. Horiguchi, T. Ikeou, A. Suminokura, D. Tsuji and M. Yata (Osaka University) for their help with THz wireless communication, measurements and simulations, and D. Ohnishi and E. Miyai (ROHM Co., Ltd) for fruitful discussions.

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  1. Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1–3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, 560-8531, Osaka, Japan

    Ryoma Kakimi, Masayuki Fujita, Masaya Nagai, Masaaki Ashida & Tadao Nagatsuma

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  1. Ryoma Kakimi
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  2. Masayuki Fujita
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  3. Masaya Nagai
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  4. Masaaki Ashida
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  5. Tadao Nagatsuma
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Contributions

R.K. performed the sample design, experiments and data analysis, and wrote the manuscript. M.F. planned and led the project, supported the sample design, experiments and data analysis, and wrote the manuscript. M.N. and M.A. supported the THz TDS measurements and data analysis. T.N. supported the THz wireless communication experiments and gave advice on the project direction. All authors contributed to writing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Masayuki Fujita.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Kakimi, R., Fujita, M., Nagai, M. et al. Capture of a terahertz wave in a photonic-crystal slab. Nature Photon 8, 657–663 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2014.150

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