Polarization-independent active metamaterial for high-frequency terahertz modulation

We present a polarization-independent metamaterial design for the construction of electrically tunable terahertz (THz) devices. The implemented structure consists of an array of gold crosses fabricated on top of an n-doped gallium arsenide (GaAs) layer. Utilizing THz time-domain spectroscopy, we show that the electric resonance and thus the transmission properties of the cross structure can be tuned by an externally applied bias voltage. We further demonstrate the fast amplitude modulation of a propagating THz wave for modulation frequencies up to 100 kHz. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America