Photoinduced Broad-band Tunable Terahertz Absorber Based on a VO₂ Thin Film

The demand for terahertz (THz) communication and detection fuels continuous research for high performance of THz absorption materials. In addition to varying the materials and their structure passively, an alternative approach is to modulate a THz wave actively by tuning an external stimulus. Correlated oxides are ideal materials for this because the effects of a small external control parameter can be amplified by inner electronic correlations. Here, by utilizing an unpatterned strongly correlated electron oxide VO₂ thin film, a photoinduced broad-band tunable THz absorber is realized first. The absorption, transmission, reflection, and phase of THz waves can all be actively controlled by an external pump laser above room temperature. By varying the laser fluence, the average broad-band absorption can be tuned from 18.9 to 74.7% and the average transmission can be tuned from 9.2 to 69.2%. Meanwhile, a broad-band antireflection is obtained at 5.6 mJ/cm², and a π-phase shift of a reflected THz wave is achieved when the fluence increases greater than 5.7 mJ/cm². Apart from other modulators, the photoexcitation-assisted dual-phase competition is identified as the origin of this active THz multifunctional modulation. Our work suggests that advantages of controllable phase separation in strongly correlated electron systems could provide viable routes in the creation of active optical components for THz waves.