Electrically Tunable Metal–Semiconductor–Metal Terahertz Metasurface Modulators

We propose metal-semiconductor-metal cavity arrays as active elements of electrically tunable metasurfaces operating in the terahertz spectrum. Their function is based on reverse biasing the Schottky junction formed between top metal strips and the n-type semiconductor buried beneath. A gate bias between the strips and a back metal reflector controls the electron depletion layer thickness thus tuning the Drude permittivity of the cavity array. Using a rigorous multiphysics framework which combines Maxwell equations for terahertz waves and the drift-diffusion model for describing the carrier behavior in the semiconductor, we find a theoretically infinite extinction ratio, insertion loss of around 10%, and picosecond intrinsic switching times at 1 THz, for a structure designed to enter the critical coupling regime once the depletion layer reaches the bottom metal contact. We also show that the proposed modulation concept can be used for devices operating at the higher end of the terahertz spectrum, discussing the limitations on their performance.