Microelectromechanical systems bimaterial terahertz sensor with integrated metamaterial absorber

Al/SiOx/Al single and multiband metamaterial absorbers for terahertz sensor applications

“…11 One option for enhancing the THz absorption of thermal sensors is to integrate a thin metamaterial film tuned to the illuminator frequency. 12,13 We have previously fabricated single-band absorbers 12 and have successfully integrated them onto bi-material THz sensors. 13 Integration of IR meta-materials onto microbolometers 14 and subterahertz split-ring resonators onto bi-material sensors 15 for improving absorption have also been performed by others.…”

“…12,13 We have previously fabricated single-band absorbers 12 and have successfully integrated them onto bi-material THz sensors. 13 Integration of IR meta-materials onto microbolometers 14 and subterahertz split-ring resonators onto bi-material sensors 15 for improving absorption have also been performed by others. These metamaterial films typically consist of a periodic-patterned metal layer, a dielectric spacer, and a ground plane.…”

“…These metamaterial films typically consist of a periodic-patterned metal layer, a dielectric spacer, and a ground plane. [12][13][14][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Multiband absorbers have also been demonstrated in GHz, [17][18][19] 0.1 to 1 THz, 20,21 1 to 10 THz, [22][23][24] and IR 25,26 ranges. However, the multiband absorbers in the 1 to 10 THz range rely on 8-μm 22 and 4-μm 23,24 thick layers of polyimide as the dielectric spacer layer.…”

“…Therefore, we explore the use of thin layers of low stress silicon-rich silicon oxide (SiO x ) as the dielectric, which can also be incorporated into microbolometer and bi-material based THz sensors. 13 Sensors integrating these high THz-absorbing layers will have smaller thermal time constants and thus an improved speed of operation compared to other thicker metamaterial absorbers in this spectral range. Low stress silicon-rich silicon oxide (SiO x ) was chosen as the dielectric spacer to reduce the intrinsic stress of microcantilevers compared to stoichiometric SiO 2 used in Ref.…”

“…Low stress silicon-rich silicon oxide (SiO x ) was chosen as the dielectric spacer to reduce the intrinsic stress of microcantilevers compared to stoichiometric SiO 2 used in Ref. 13. In this paper, we present experimental results for THz absorbing metamaterial films with single-and multiple-absorption peaks.…”