All-dielectric photoconductive metasurfaces for terahertz applications

Abstract

We review applications of all-dielectric metasurfaces for one of the cornerstone technologies in THz research – ultrafast photoconductive (PC) switches – which are widely used as sources and detectors of broadband THz pulses. Nanostructuring the PC switch channel as a perfectly-absorbing and optically thin PC metasurface allows us to engineer the optical as well as the electronic properties of the channel and improve the efficiency of THz detectors. This approach also opens new routes for employing novel PC materials and enabling new device architectures including THz detector arrays.