Carbon Dioxide Gas Sensor Based on Terahertz Metasurface with Asymmetric Cross-Shaped Holes Empowered by Quasi-Bound States in the Continuum

In this paper, a novel type of polarization-insensitive terahertz metal metasurface with cross-shaped holes is presented, which is designed based on the theory of bound states in continuous media. The fundamental unit of the metasurface comprises a metal tungsten sheet with a cross-shaped hole structure. A thorough analysis of the optical properties and the quasi-BIC response is conducted using the finite element method. Utilizing the symmetry-breaking theory, the symmetry of the metal metasurface is broken, allowing the excitation of double quasi-BIC resonance modes with a high quality factor and high sensitivity to be achieved. Analysis of the multipole power distribution diagram and the spatial distribution of the electric field at the two quasi-BIC resonances verifies that the two quasi-BIC resonances of the metasurface are excited by electric dipoles and electric quadrupoles, respectively. Further simulation analysis demonstrates that the refractive index sensitivities of the two quasi-BIC modes of the metasurface reach 404.5 GHz/RIU and 578.6 GHz/RIU, respectively. Finally, the functional material PHMB is introduced into the metasurface to achieve highly sensitive sensing and detection of CO₂ gas concentrations. The proposed metallic metasurface structure exhibits significant advantages, including high sensitivity, ease of preparation, and a high Q-value, which renders it highly promising for a broad range of applications in the domains of terahertz biosensing and highly sensitive gas sensing.