J. S. Gomez-Diaz

Analysis and design of terahertz antennas based on plasmonic resonant graphene sheets

Resonant graphene antennas used as true interfaces between terahertz (THz) space waves and a source/detector are presented. It is shown that in addition to the high miniaturization related to the plasmonic nature of the resonance, graphene-based THz antenna favorably compare with typical metal implementations in terms of return loss and radiation efficiency. Graphene antennas will contribute to the development of miniature, efficient, and potentially transparent all-graphene THz transceivers for emerging communication and sensing application.

Graphene-based plasmonic switches at near infrared frequencies

The concept, analysis, and design of series switches for graphene-strip plasmonic waveguides at near infrared frequencies are presented. Switching is achieved by using graphenes field effect to selectively enable or forbid propagation on a section of the graphene strip waveguide, thereby allowing good transmission or high isolation, respectively. The electromagnetic modeling of the proposed structure is performed using full-wave simulations and a transmission line model combined with a matrix-transfer approach, which takes into account the characteristics of the plasmons supported by the different graphene-strip waveguide sections of the device. The performance of the switch is evaluated versus different parameters of the structure, including surrounding dielectric media, electrostatic gating and waveguide dimensions.

Sinusoidally Modulated Graphene Leaky-Wave Antenna for Electronic Beamscanning at THz

This paper proposes the concept, analysis and design of a sinusoidally modulated graphene leaky-wave antenna with beam scanning capabilities at a fixed frequency. The antenna operates at terahertz frequencies and is composed of a graphene sheet transferred onto a back-metallized substrate and a set of polysilicon DC gating pads located beneath it. In order to create a leaky-mode, the graphene surface reactance is sinusoidally modulated via graphenes field effect by applying adequate DC bias voltages to the different gating pads. The pointing angle and leakage rate can be dynamically controlled by adjusting the applied voltages, providing versatile beamscanning capabilities. The proposed concept and achieved performance, computed using realistic material parameters, are extremely promising for beamscanning at THz frequencies, and could pave the way to graphene-based reconfigurable transceivers and sensors.

Non-contact characterization of graphene surface impedance at micro and millimeter waves

The experimental characterization of the surface impedance of monolayer graphene at micro and millimeter wave frequencies is addressed. Monolayer graphene is transferred on a substrate stack, which is placed in the cross-section of a rectangular waveguide. In the fundamental mode, this setup is equivalent to a TE-polarized plane wave impinging under oblique incidence on an infinite graphene sheet, and similarly, the surface impedance of the graphene is a simple lumped element in a transmission-line model, that exactly represents the electromagnetic problem under study. Using this model, we propose a technique based on transmission matrices to accurately extract the surface impedance. The method is able to relax the influence of the substrates tolerances by taking advantage of the graphene infinitesimally small electrical thickness. It can also account for any gap between the sample and the test waveguide, thereby allowing to disregard graphene-metal contact resistance issues. The approach has been success...

Graphene-Based Plasmonic Tunable Low-Pass Filters in the Terahertz Band

We propose the concept, synthesis, analysis, and design of graphene-based plasmonic tunable low-pass filters operating in the terahertz band. The proposed structure is composed of a graphene strip transferred onto a dielectric and a set of polysilicon dc gating pads located beneath it. This structure implements a stepped impedance low-pass filter for the propagating surface plasmons by adequately controlling the guiding properties of each strip section through graphenes field effect. A synthesis procedure is presented to design filters with desired specifications in terms of cutoff frequency, in-band performance, and rejection characteristics. The electromagnetic modeling of the structure is efficiently performed by combining an electrostatic scaling law to compute the guiding features of each strip section with a transmission line and transfer-matrix framework, approach further validated via full-wave simulations. The performance of the proposed filters is evaluated in practical scenarios, taking into account the presence of the gating bias and the influence of graphenes losses. These results, together with the high miniaturization associated with plasmonic propagation, are very promising for the future use and integration of the proposed filters with other graphene and silicon-based elements in innovative terahertz communication systems.

Integral Equation Analysis of Plane Wave Scattering by Coplanar Graphene-Strip Gratings in the THz Range

The plane wave scattering and absorption by finite and infinite gratings of free-space standing infinitely long graphene strips are studied in the THz range. A novel numerical approach, based on graphene surface impedance, hyper-singular integral equations, and the Nystrom method, is proposed. This technique guarantees fast convergence and controlled accuracy of computations. Reflectance, transmittance, and absorbance are carefully studied as a function of graphene and grating parameters, revealing the presence of surface plasmon resonances. Specifically, larger graphene relaxation times increases the number of resonances in the THz range, leading to higher wave transmittance due to the reduced losses; on the other hand an increase of graphene chemical potential up-shifts the frequency of plasmon resonances. It is also shown that a relatively low number of graphene strips ( >10) are able to reproduce Rayleigh anomalies. These features make graphene strips good candidates for many applications, including tunable absorbers and frequency selective surfaces.

Propagation of hybrid transverse magnetic-transverse electric plasmons on magnetically biased graphene sheets

The propagation of plasmons on magnetically biased graphene sheets is addressed. The analysis is based on the transverse resonance method extended to handle the graphene conductivity tensor and allows easily accounting for substrate effects. A transcendental equation is obtained for the propagation constant of the resulting hybrid transverse magnetic-transverse electric mode. A closed-form approximate expression for a graphene layer sandwitched between two different media is also provided. Application of the method shows that the presence of a magnetic field leads to extreme field localization, namely, very small guided wavelength, as compared with usual plasmons in graphene or noble metals. The extent of field localization and its frequency can be dynamically controlled by modifying the applied magnetostatic and electrostatic bias field, respectively. These features could enable extreme device miniaturization and enhanced resolution in sensing applications.

Plane wave excitation-detection of non-resonant plasmons along finite-width graphene strips

An approach to couple free-space waves and non-resonant plasmons propagating along graphene strips is proposed based on the periodic modulation of the graphene strip width. The solution is technologically very simple, scalable in frequency, and provides customized coupling angle and intensity. Moreover, the coupling properties can be dynamically controlled at a fixed frequency via the graphene electrical field effect, enabling advanced and flexible plasmon excitation-detection strategies. We combine a previously derived scaling law for graphene strips with leaky-wave theory borrowed from microwaves to achieve rigorous and efficient modeling and design of the structure. In particular we analytically derive its dispersion, predict its coupling efficiency and radiated field structure, and design strip configurations able to fulfill specific coupling requirements. The proposed approach and developed methods are essential to the recent and fundamental problem of the excitation-detection of non-resonant plasmons propagating along a continuous graphene strip, and could pave the way to smart all-graphene sensors and transceivers.

Spatially Dispersive Graphene Single and Parallel Plate Waveguides: Analysis and Circuit Model

The propagation of surface waves along spatially dispersive graphene-based 2-D waveguides is investigated in detail. Graphene is characterized using a full-kρ conductivity model under the relaxation-time approximation, which allows to obtain analytical and closed-formed expressions for the wavenumber of plasmons supported by sheets and parallel plate waveguides, respectively. Per unit length equivalent circuits are introduced to accurately characterize the propagation in different waveguides, and analytical relations between the effective TM-mode circuit lumped elements and graphene conductivity are derived. The proposed circuits allow identifying the different mechanisms involved in spatially dispersive plasmon propagation, explaining their connection with the intrinsic properties of graphene. Results demonstrate that spatial dispersion, which significantly decreases the confinement and the losses of slow surface plasmons, must be accurately assessed in the design of graphene-based plasmonic components at millimeter-waves and low terahertz frequencies.

Effect of Spatial Dispersion on Surface Waves Propagating Along Graphene Sheets

We investigate the propagation of surface waves along a spatially dispersive graphene sheet, including substrate effects. The proposed analysis derives the admittances of an equivalent circuit of graphene able to handle spatial dispersion, using a nonlocal model of graphene conductivity. Similar to frequency-selective surfaces, the analytical admittances depend on the propagation constant of the waves traveling along the sheet. Dispersion relations for the supported TE and TM modes are then obtained by applying a transverse resonance equation. Application of the method demonstrates that spatial dispersion can dramatically affect the propagation of surface plasmons, notably modifying their mode confinement and increasing losses, even at frequencies where intraband transitions are the dominant contribution to graphene conductivity. These results show the need to correctly assess spatial dispersion effects in the development of plasmonic devices at the low THz band.