Ultra‐High Contrast Terahertz Modulation and Pixelated Display Based on VO 2 Metasurface
ABSTRACT The development of high‐performance, dynamically reconfigurable devices is important for advancing Terahertz (THz) technology. Vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ), a metal‐insulator transition oxide with a near‐room‐temperature critical point, is promising for infrared (IR) and THz modulation. However, achieving simultaneous high transmission in the ON state, deep suppression in the OFF state, and electrical programmability in a broadband THz device remains challenging. Here, we propose an electrically controlled VO 2 THz metasurface that overcomes these limitations. Our design yields an ultra‐high transmission switching ratio of 10 000 at 0.88 THz in simulation and a broad bandwidth from 0.2 to 1.3 THz (switching ratio >100). It maintains a high transmission of 0.85 in the insulating state while suppressing transmission to ∼10 −4 in the metallic state, corresponding to a modulation depth exceeding 99.9%. Based on the multiple THz transmission levels, we demonstrate a proof‐of‐concept reconfigurable pixelated display, which highlights the potential of our high‐contrast metasurface for THz spatial light modulation applications. By integrating our VO 2 metasurface with a Ni/Pt bilayer for electrical gating of spintronic THz emission, a compact, amplitude‐modulated THz source is fabricated. Our work establishes a robust platform for high‐performance, programmable THz devices, bridging the gap between static meta‐materials and dynamic photonic systems for imaging, communications, and integrated applications.
Authors
- Zhigao Sheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3382-5968)
- Guobin Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2965-4422)
- T. F. Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7258-5620)
- Jinglin Zhu
- Qiuping Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1230-7790)
- Chongwen Zou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6153-081X)
- Chang Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7487-1317)
- Bowen Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8255-3917)
- Zhihan Lin
- Jianjun Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3826-8933)
- Chengyu Li
- Biwen Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-0354-9495)
- Meiling Liu
Institutions
- University of Science and Technology of China (CN)
- Hefei University (CN)
- High Magnetic Field Laboratory (CN)
- Hefei National Center for Physical Sciences at Nanoscale (CN)
- Hefei Material Science and Technology Center (CN)
- National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Laser & Photonics Review
- Published
- 2026-09-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/lpor.71913
- Primary Topic
- Metamaterials and Metasurfaces Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- University of Science and Technology of China
- Hefei Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- National Key Research and Development Program of China