Active Control of Terahertz Waves Using Vanadium-Dioxide-Embedded Metamaterials

This article describes the active control of terahertz waves using hybrid metamaterials containing embedded vanadium dioxide. VO₂ undergoes an insulator-metal phase transition at around 68 ^∘{}C, causing its conductivity to change by about 5 orders of magnitude, which yields mode switching in the metamaterial. This mode switching, which is analogous to the resonant mode switching seen in plasmonics, can be realized experimentally using thermal, electrical, or optical stimuli. Such a diverse range of stimuli should be very useful for manipulating terahertz waves in practical applications, with a particular eye toward next-generation wireless communication.