The past few decades have witnessed a substantial increase in terahertz (THz) research. Utilizing THz waves to transmit communication and imaging data has created a high demand for phase and amplitude modulation. However, current active THz devices, including modulators and switches, still cannot meet THz system demands. Double-channel heterostructures, an alternative semiconductor system, can support nanoscale two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) with high carrier concentration and mobility and provide a new way to develop active THz devices. In this Letter, we present a composite metamaterial structure that combines an equivalent collective dipolar array with a double-channel heterostructure to obtain an effective, ultrafast, and all-electronic grid-controlled THz modulator. Electrical control allows for resonant mode conversion between two different dipolar resonances in the active device, which significantly improves the modulation speed and depth. This THz modulator is the first to achieve a 1 GHz modulation speed and 85% modulation depth during real-time dynamic tests. Moreover, a 1.19 rad phase shift was realized. A wireless free-space-modulation THz communication system based on this external THz modulator was tested using 0.2 Gbps eye patterns. Therefore, this active composite metamaterial modulator provides a basis for the development of effective and ultrafast dynamic devices for THz wireless communication and imaging systems.

This paper presents a study of coherent and superradiant Smith-Purcell (SP) radiation with the help of a two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. The simulation model supposes a rectangular grating with period length of 173 m to be driven by a single electron bunch, a train of periodic bunches and a continuous beam, respectively. We chose 40 keV as the initial energy of electrons and therefore the SP radiation frequency falls in the THz regime. From our single bunch simulation we distinguish the true SP radiation separated in time from the emission of the evanescent wave. The evanescent wave radiates from both ends of the grating and is characterized by an angle independent frequency lower than the minimum allowed SP frequency. In order to avoid the buildup of beam bunching from an initially continuous beam, we use a train of periodic bunches to excite the grating and observe the superradiant phenomenon. The repetition frequency of the spatially periodic bunches is assumed to be 300 GHz. We find that the superradiant radiation is only emitted at higher harmonics of this frequency and at the corresponding SP angles. This result conforms to the viewpoint of Andrews and co-workers. The simulation with a continuous beam shows the dependence of the output power on the beam current. The power curve shows two regimes, one for the incoherent SP radiation and the other for the superradiance, which resembles the Dartmouth experimental result. And furthermore, the frequency spectrum shows an apparent difference for the two regimes, which is in contrast to the observations of Urata and co-workers.

Terahertz (THz) science and technology promise unique applications in high-speed communications, high-accuracy imaging, and so on. To keep up with the demand for THz systems, THz dynamic devices should feature large phase shift modulation and high speed. To date, however, only a few devices can efficiently manipulate the phase of THz waves. In this paper, we demonstrate that efficient phase modulation of THz waves can be addressed by an active and enhanced resonant metamaterial embedded with a nanostructured 2D electron gas (2DEG) layer of a GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT). The enhanced resonant metaunit couples the traditional dipolar and inductance-capacitance resonances together to realize a coupling mode with enhanced resonance. Embedded with the nanostructured 2DEG layer of GaN HEMT, the resonance intensity and surface current circuit of the enhanced resonant mode in the metamaterial unit can be dynamically manipulated by the electrical control of the carrier distribution and depletion of the 3 nm 2DEG, leading to a phase shift greater than 150° in simulation. In the dynamic experiments, a 137° phase shift was achieved with an external controlling voltage of only several volts in the THz transmission mode. This work represents the first realization of a phase shift greater than 100° in a dynamic experiment in transmission mode using an active metamaterial structure with only a single layer. In addition, given the high-speed modulation ability of the HEMT, this concept provides a promising approach for the development of a fast and effective phase modulator in THz application systems.

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