Flexible Control of Broadband Polarization in a Spintronic Terahertz Emitter Integrated with Liquid Crystal and Metasurface

Flexible polarization control of the terahertz wave in the wide bandwidth is crucial for numerous applications, such as terahertz communication, material characterization, imaging, and biosensing diagnosis. However, this promise is impeded by the operating bandwidth of circular polarization states, control modes, and the efficiency of the regulation. Here, we report a spintronic terahertz emitter integrated with phase complementary elements, consisting of a liquid crystal and metasurface, to achieve broadband polarization control with high flexibility. This strategy allows the broadband conversion between linear, elliptical, and circular polarization by changing the rotation angle to modulate the space-variant Pancharatnam-Berry phase. The device is charac- terized with a terahertz time-domain spectroscopy system, demonstrating that the ellipticity of the circular polarization state could keep greater than 0.9 in 0.60-0.99 THz. In the case of an external electro-magnetic field, further polarization modulation experiments are carried out to provide multiple conversion approaches for multi-azimuth. We first propose a method of full broadband polarization state control of the terahertz emitter based on Pancharatnam-Berry phase modulation and an external electro-magnetic field. We believe that such integrated devices with broadband working bandwidth and multiple control modes will make valuable contributions to the development and multi-scene applications of ultrafast terahertz technologies.

Automated summary

This study presents a spintronic terahertz emitter integrated with liquid crystal and metasurface elements for achieving broadband polarization control. By modulating the Pancharatnam-Berry phase through rotation angle changes, the device enables broad conversion between linear, elliptical, and circular polarization states. The ellipticity of circular polarization state remains above 0.9 in the 0.60-0.99 THz range.