Terahertz plasmonic composites

The dielectric response of a polymer matrix composite can be substantially modified and tuned within a broad frequency band by integrating within the material an artificial plasmon medium composed of periodically distributed, very thin, electrically conducting wires. In the microwave regime, such plasmon/polymer composites have been studied analytically, computationally, and experimentally. This work reports the design, fabrication, and characterization of similar composites for operation at terahertz frequencies. Such composites require significant reduction in the thickness and spacing of the wires. We used numerical modeling to design artificial effective plasmonic media with turn-on frequencies in the terahertz range. Prototype samples were produced by lithographically embedding very thin gold strips into a PDMS [poly(dimethylsiloxane)] matrix. These samples were characterized with a Fourier-transform infrared interferometer using the frequency-dependent transmission and Kramers-Kronig relations to determine the electromagnetic properties. We report the characterization results for a sample, demonstrating excellent agreement between theory, computer design, and experiment. To our knowledge this is the first demonstration of the possibility of creating composites with tuned dielectric response at terahertz frequencies.