Flexible and Attachable Terahertz Polarizer Enabled by Laser-induced Graphene

Abstract Terahertz (THz) polarizers are indispensable for polarization-sensitive spectroscopy, imaging, and communication systems. Conventional metal-based wire-grid polarizers, despite their high performance, rely on complex photolithography and thin-film deposition processes that incur substantial costs and constrain scalability. Here, we demonstrate a flexible and attachable THz polarizer enabled by laser-induced graphene (LIG)—a three-dimensional porous carbon material synthesized in a single step via direct laser writing on polyimide. The polarizer consists of 2 layers of LIG wire-grid geometry with a period of 60 µm and a strip width of 50 µm, and is fabricated through a streamlined, mask-free protocol and subsequently peeled from its rigid substrate for transfer onto arbitrary flexible supports. Experimental results show that the polarizer yields an extinction ratio less than − 25 dB across 0.25–1.0 THz, and this value keeps no more than − 20 dB under bending radii down to 22.5 mm. These results establish LIG as a compelling material platform for low-cost, scalable, and transferable THz polarizers, bridging the gap between high-performance metal-based devices and practical manufacturing requirements.