Dynamic terahertz beamforming based on magnetically switchable hyperbolic materials

Abstract

In this work, we introduce a concept to enable dynamic beamforming of terahertz (THz) wavefronts using applied magnetic fields (B). The proposed system exploits the magnetically switchable hyperbolic dispersion of the InSb semiconductor. This phenomenology, combined with diffractive surfaces and magnetic tilting of scattered fields, allows the design of a metasurface that works with either circularly or linearly polarized wavefronts. In particular, we demonstrate numerically that the transmitted beam tilting can be manipulated with the direction and magnitude of B. Numerical results, obtained through the finite element method (FEM), are qualitatively supported by semi-analytical results from the generalized dipole theory. Motivated by potential applications in future Tera-WiFi active links, a metasurface is simulated for the working frequency f = 300 GHz. The results indicate that the transmitted field can be actively tuned to point in five different directions with beamforming of ±45°, depending on the magnitude and direction of B. In addition to magnetic beamforming, we also demonstrate that our proposal exhibits magnetic circular dichroism (MCD), which can also find applications in magnetically tunable THz isolators for one-way transmission/reflection.