Liquid crystal-based reflective dual-band sub-terahertz phase shifter.

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics
• Metamaterials
• Antenna Engineering

Background:

• Terahertz (THz) technology requires efficient phase shifting components for applications like imaging and communication.
• Dual-band antenna systems with shared apertures are desirable for compact and versatile electronic devices.
• Liquid crystals offer tunable dielectric properties suitable for reconfigurable photonic devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and demonstrate a novel terahertz (THz) phase shifter.
• To integrate a liquid crystal with a single-layer metasurface for dual-band antenna applications.
• To achieve significant phase shifts exceeding 180° in dual-frequency bands.

Main Methods:

• Design of a single-layer metasurface with a shared aperture.
• Integration of a liquid crystal for tunable phase shifting.
• Electromagnetic simulations and experimental characterization of the device performance.

Main Results:

• The proposed device operates in dual-frequency bands: simulated ranges of 236.8–248.8 GHz and 462–478 GHz.
• Experimental results confirmed operational bandwidths of 239.3–249.4 GHz and 464–472.5 GHz.
• Maximum experimentally recorded phase shifts were 225.8° at 244.5 GHz and 201° at 468.3 GHz.

Conclusions:

• The developed liquid crystal-metasurface phase shifter is effective for dual-band terahertz antenna systems.
• The shared aperture design is suitable for phased array functionality.
• This technology advances the development of reconfigurable terahertz systems.