Switchable Terahertz Metasurfaces for Spin-Selective Absorption and Anomalous Reflection Based on Vanadium Dioxide

Abstract

Conventional chiral metasurfaces are constrained by predetermined functionalities and have limited versatility. To address these constraints, we propose a novel chirality-switchable terahertz (THz) metasurface with integrated heating control circuits tailored for spin-selective anomalous reflection, leveraging the phase-change material vanadium dioxide (VO2). The reversible and abrupt insulator-to-metal phase transition feature of VO2 is exploited to facilitate a chiral meta-atom with spin-selectivity capabilities. By employing the Pancharatnam–Berry phase principle, complete 2π reflection phase coverage is achieved by adjusting the orientation of the chiral structure. At the resonant frequency of 0.137 THz, the designed metasurface achieves selective absorption of a circularly polarized wave corresponding to the state of the VO2 patches. Concurrently, it reflects the circularly polarized wave of the opposite chirality anomalously at an angle of 28.4° while maintaining its handedness. This chirality-switchable THz metasurface exhibits promising potential across various applications, including wireless communication data capacity enlargement, polarization modulation, and chirality detection.