Metasurface Beam Splitting Techniques in Terahertz Systems

Metasurfaces are planar, subwavelength‐structured interfaces that impart tailored phase, amplitude or polarisation changes to incident terahertz radiation. By engineering the arrangement and geometry of individual meta‐atoms, researchers have devised compact beam splitters that deflect a single terahertz beam into multiple channels with precise control over splitting angle, power ratio and polarisation state. Two principal design strategies have emerged: gradient‐phase metasurfaces that introduce a linear phase ramp across the surface to direct energy into discrete diffraction orders, and geometric‐phase (Pancharatnam–Berry) metasurfaces that exploit spatially varying orientation of anisotropic resonators for spin‐dependent routing. Dielectric materials such as silicon or high‐resistivity silicon are favoured for low‐loss operation in the 0.1–10 THz band, supporting Mie-type resonances that yield high transmission efficiency. Applications range from multiplexed imaging and spectroscopy to on-chip heterodyne receivers, non-destructive testing and wireless communications. Recent efforts focus on multi-beam outputs, reconfigurable splitting via external stimuli, integration with quantum cascade laser sources for compact local oscillators, and conformal or flexible substrates for curved-surface deployment.

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Metasurface Beam Splitting Techniques in Terahertz Systems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in metasurface beam splitting techniques in terahertz systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Metasurface: A planar array of subwavelength scatterers engineered to impart spatially varying phase, amplitude or polarisation to incident waves.

Phase gradient: A systematic variation in the local transmission or reflection phase across a surface, used to deflect and split beams.

Pancharatnam–Berry phase: A geometric phase arising from spatially varying orientation of anisotropic elements, enabling spin-dependent beam redirection.

Dielectric resonator: A non-metallic microstructure that supports Mie resonances, providing low-loss phase control at terahertz frequencies.

Quantum cascade laser: A semiconductor source capable of generating coherent terahertz emission, often integrated with metasurfaces for beam shaping.

References

1. A conformal beam splitter with polarization transformation operation. Scientific Reports (2023).
2. All-Dielectric Metasurface-Based Quad-Beam Splitter in the Terahertz Regime. IEEE Photonics Journal (2020).
3. A Review on Metasurface Beam Splitters. Nanomanufacturing (2022).
4. All-dielectric metasurface designs for spin-tunable beam splitting via simultaneous manipulation of propagation and geometric phases.. Optics Express (2022).