Scalable wave-periodic structure interactions

for far-field photon collimation and

near-field Tera-Hertz photon confinement

Synopsis of the thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

By

Arnab Pattanayak

124360006

Under the guidance of

Prof. SP Duttagupta

Prof. PS Gandhi

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

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INTRODUCTION

Wish to manipulate photons akin to our ability of controlling electrons in solid-state

devices has opened new frontiers of electromagnetics. Novel active and passive RF/photonic
devices have been explored in order to collimate photons in far-field, confine them in sub-
wavelength volume and bend their route at will. Such exotic phenomena can be yielded
through the interaction of plane wave with sub-wavelength resonators arranged in symmetric
or asymmetric ordination. These phenomena are employed and used in wide range of
applications from wireless power transfer to molecular spectroscopy. The beauty of the
nature is - these various phenomena across the whole range of electromagnetic spectrum are
governed by the same Maxwell equation. Our human eye is designed to detect or sense only
the visible part of that EM spectrum. The interaction of light with nature reflects in colour.
This macroscopic observation is actually the manifestation of light-matter interaction in sub-
molecular level. The exhibitions of photonic engineering by the living organisms have been
studied in details1,2. The transparent wings of hawkmoths and anti-reflective surfaces of
corneas of moth and butterfly eyes are few such examples of the diverse optical devices
found in nature in the form of one, two or three-dimensional periodic arrangement of
micro/nano sculptures. However, first human-made observation of interaction between light
and periodic structure was reported in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, in
the year of 17863. The article entitled "An Optical Problem, Proposed by Mr. Hopkinson, and
Solved by Mr. Rittenhouse" described the filtering out of selective colours while looking at a
street lamp through a stretched silk handkerchief or mesh of parallel hairs. Mimicking of this
periodic arrangement in larger dimensional scale certainly shifts the light-matter interaction
to other slices of the EM spectrum. If we artificially re-make those tiny sculpted
micro/nanostructure array in some other dimension scale (say, few hundreds of micron), our
engineered structure would interact with the wavelength of that scale and generate its spectral
fingerprint in that regime of spectrum. The very first attempt to demonstrate the interaction
between artificial periodic structures and electromagnetic wave in non-visible spectrum was
initiated by Sir J.C.Bose in the late nineteenth century. He used parallel copper wire grating
structure and twisted jute fibers (chiral structure) to control the polarization of incident wave4.
Later on, the periodic structures have been extensively studied and demonstrated across the
EM spectrum for their excellent control over the wave propagation5,6. However, there was a
gap in the spectrum between microwave and infrared called "Tera-Hertz Gap". This
frequency range of 0.1 to 10 THz is often mentioned as sub-millimetre wave as the

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corresponding wavelengths are less than 1 mm. The photon energy of THz spectral regime
falls in the range of 0.4-40 milli electron volt (mEV). Hence, THz radiation is not so
energetic to knock electrons off from atoms and molecules. As a consequence of that, THz
cannot trigger any chemical reaction. Due to opacity of earth atmosphere at these frequency
as well as lack of high power sources, THz signal cannot propagate beyond few centimetre
without significant attenuation. On the other hand, difficulty also lies in making terahertz
detectors, spectrometers and oscillators. Initially the spectrum was only appealing to the
astronomical researchers7. THz has been used to diagnose the ions, atoms and molecules that
are fundamental to the understanding of the origin and constitution of the interstellar system,
the evolution of matter in the galaxy over cosmic timescales. Gradually down to the timeline,
THz spectrum started to attract the attention of researchers from various fields (physics, bio,
chemistry and electronics) due to the capability of non-destructive testing at the sub-atomic
level. Being non-ionized radiation and capable of passing through the visibly opaque
substances, THz has been becoming an essential imaging technique in medical,
pharmaceutical, food quality control as well as security industry. Ongoing researches in THz
regime can be broadly classified into three categories - (i) sources, (ii) detectors, and (iii)
manipulators. With the advances in making efficient THz sources and detectors, it has been
obvious to find THz manipulators to control over the wave propagation. In this report, we
present a thorough study and design of the periodic array of sub-wavelength resonators to
manipulate THz wave. However, we started with designing a highly directive reflectarray
antenna to operate at 5 GHz. Following that work, we dimensionally scaled down such
periodic array to be functional at Tera-Hertz frequency regime. In THz, we designed a
loop Yagi-Uda array that can be used as a narrow band absorber as well as a
broadband stop filter. Thereafter, we designed a subwavelength aperture array for
polarization controlled dual resonant THz transmission. In all three designs, we came
up with the novel idea of the resonating structures, did the simulation studies and
explained all the results. We fabricated those arrays and measured the spectral
properties to validate our ideas and assumptions.

PROBLEM STATEMENT:

We report the experimental demonstration of compact 2-D periodic structures for

application as a phase gradient surface for far-field photon confinement in RF (4-7
GHz). Additionally, we have proposed a scheme for steerable deflected beam by super-
imposition of a field-tunable conducting graphene layer. Possible applications of this

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technology include wireless power transfer from air-borne mobile platforms to the
ground in the event of natural calamities. We have dimensionally scaled down the
periodic structures to be also functional in the Tera-Hertz regime.

Following this, we have reported 2-D periodic array of single and coupled resonators to
realize near-field confinement of Tera-Hertz photon in sub-wavelength volume scale.
Specifically, this involves design and fabrication of a 3-D loop Yagi-Uda array, whose
elementary unit comprises multi-stacked gold micro-scale rings, separated from each
other by a sub-wavelength thick dielectric layer. This structure exhibits polarization
independent narrow band absorption as well as broad band-stop filter characteristics.
The far-field spectral features have been explained using plasmon hybridization theory.

Finally, we have fabricated a Tera-Hertz plasmonic filter comprising of a sub-

wavelength aperture array. Here, the novelty lies in the demonstration of polarization
controlled dual-resonant, zero-order transmission characteristics in the far-field region.

RESEARCH BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION

As we mentioned in the introduction, periodic array of sub-wavelength resonators

have been becoming inevitable components for their unprecedented ability to control wave
propagation. According to functionalities of periodic structures, they have been classified into
different terminologies, such as, frequency selective surface (FSS), metamaterial, reflectarray
and other kind of metasurfaces. These structures have been employed in various THz-based
spectroscopic, imaging, sensing and short distance communication system. Frequency
selective surface (FSS) structures can be used as band-pass or band-stop filter; therefore they
have been extensively used in radomes to reduce Radar Cross Section (RCS) of RF antennas8.
RF FSS structures have been dimensionally scaled down for applications in THz regime.
Liquid crystal based tunable frequency selective surface has been demonstrated to operate in
the frequency range of 110-170 GHz9. "A steep flank in the frequency response" of a periodic
array of the asymmetric split ring resonators has been used to sense chemical and biological
substances in small amount10. THz high-speed switch has been realized through two FSS
filters of complementary frequency responses on a single sapphire substrate11. A dual
polarized three-layer aperture coupled resonator based THz FSS has been designed to exhibit
narrow band-pass frequency response in the transmission spectrum12 .Nested multi-layer FSS
structures have been designed to render passive remote sensing tools "with multispectral

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capability by separating the scene radiation into separate frequency channels"13. Just as FSSs
are employed as spatial filter to control the far-field spectral selectivity, angular dispersion of
radiated beam is controlled through reflectarrays and other metasurface lenses. Initially,
reflectarray antennas have been designed for RF applications to replace high-gain, three-
dimensional bulky parabolic reflector14. Their THz counterparts have been used to deflect
radiation at desired direction with narrow angular spreading15. For further manipulation of
THz radiation beyond beam focusing and spectral selectivity, THz metamaterial structures
have been designed and fabricated to engineer the electric permittivity as well as magnetic
permeability to yield various exotic media such as, negative index16, zero index17, high
refractive index18 and perfect absorbing material19,20. Such extreme and diverse
manipulations of THz radiation lead to motivate us to study the interaction of THz wave and
periodic array of sub-wavelength resonators. We have designed a loop Yagi-Uda array to
operate as a narrow band absorber. In addition to that, the array exhibits a continuous stop
band from 0.6 to 1.1 THz. Hence, the structure can be employed as a broadband stop spatial
filter. Another of our design consists of periodic array of subwavelength apertures that can be
used as a plasmonic filter. The structure shows polarization dependent dual-resonant
transmission spectra, while illuminated by plane wave. As the inter-element spacing of two
apertures is less than half of a wavelength, the array yields a very narrow beam in the far-
field region.

SCOPE OF THE WORK

THz is being called the "last frontier of the electromagnetic spectrum". Periodic array
of sub-wavelength resonators in THz regime has been adopted from their RF and optical
counterpart. Hence, the interaction of these structures with THz radiation is a fresh quest to
the researchers. This thesis addresses the fundamental queries of how the electric and
magnetic field vectors couple with the subwavelength plasmonic structures to yield far-field
radiation spectra. The proper understanding of the connection between near-field distribution
and far-field resonance would help to harvest new kind of physics on light-matter interaction.
Hence, desired spectral properties at far-field can be realized through the periodic array of
novel and engineered plasmonic resonators.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

SIMULATION MODULE

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In order to study particle plasmon resonance of the plasmonic array, first, we have simulated
those structures in CST Microwave Studio ® before fabrication. Simulation study provides us
the near-field distribution of electric and magnetic vectors in the sub-wavelength volume of
the elementary unit of the array. Moreover, simulation helps us to predict the far-field
spectral feature. Thus, we can adjust the dimension and shape to attain optimum performance.
Two solvers of CST MWS have been used – (i) Finite element method (FEM) based
Frequency solver (F-Solver) for unit cell simulation and (ii) Method of moments (MoM)
based Integral Equation (IE-Solver) for full array simulation.

For unit cell simulation in Frequency domain solver, unit-cell boundary conditions are
applied in transverse x and y directions and Floquet port boundary conditions are applied in
z-directions. This boundary condition takes the consideration of the infinite array of the unit
cell with the periodicity defined in the geometry of the unit cell. Simulation studies are
performed under both X- and Y- polarized TEM plane waves impinged on the structure. A
resonating element and corresponding CST MWS simulation window are shown in the figure
below.

Fig. 1(a) Schematic of a sub-wavelength resonator (b) Boundary conditions for unit cell
simulation.

The system model of unit cell simulation is depicted in Fig.2. In the figure ai and bi
represents the incident and reflected signal at port i (i = 1, 2), respectively.

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 Fig. 2 The system model of unit cell simulation.

The representing matrix of the system is described as –

Sij denotes the scattering parameter that is defined as the ratio of the signal reflected from port
i and signal incident at port j. Therefore, Sii and Sjj represent the reflection coefficient at
corresponding port i and j, respectively. Similarly, Sij (Sji) represents the transmission
coefficient from port j to port i ( port i to port j). Apart from scattering parameters, unit cell
simulations give the near-field distribution of electric, magnetic, charge and current
distribution.

For full array analysis, MoM based IE solver is a useful tool. The tool is used for electrically
large (the structure is several order magnitude larger than the operating wavelength)
structures. The simulation results provide the far-field radiation pattern while the structure is
illuminated by an external source or plane wave coming from a distance.

HARDWARE MODULE

To validate our idea and assumption we have fabricated the structures and then
characterized to get the far-field spectral properties. For fabrication of the samples, we have
used standard optical lithography technique. For example, here we provide the fabrication
steps of the THz loop Yagi-Uda array. The elementary unit of the array consists of three-layer
gold micro-rings, separated from each other by a dielectric layer.

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 Fig. 3 Fabrication steps of a sample of Yagi-Uda structure.

Transmittance and reflectance of the fabricated sample have been measured using THz-Time
Domain Spectroscopy (THz-TDS). A schematic of THz-TDS is shown in the Fig.4 below.
THz-pump pulse was generated by dipole photoconductive antenna fabricated on a Low-
Temperature Gallium Arsenide (LT-GaAs) substrate (commercial BATOP source) by a 10
femtosecond Ti: sapphire laser beam with 80 MHz repetition rate. A Quartz beam splitter was
used to measure transmittance and reflectance both in the same setup. The transmitted and
reflected THz pulse was detected by electro-optic sampling process. In this process, 800 nm
optical probe pulse and transmitted (or reflected) THz signal were together impinged on a Zn-
Te (Zinc-Telluride) crystal successively followed by a quarter-wave plate and Wollaston
prism. After that, the probe pulse was sent to a balanced photodiode with rise time 100
nanosecond followed by a lock-in amplifier (SR-865).

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 Fig. 4 Schematic of a THz-TDS set-up21.

The measurement was performed at room temperature. A 1mm fused silica substrate was
used as the reference for transmittance and a 0.2 µm thick gold mirror was used as the
reference for reflectance. The recorded time domain signal was amplitude against the time
delay between pump and probe pulses. We repeated the experiment three times and
performed FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) on them. The averaged Fourier transform signal is
normalized with respect to the corresponding reference samples.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

DESIGN of a 5-GHz COMPACT REFLECTARRAY

This work presents a novel, compact reflectarray antenna operating at 5 GHz. The array
consists of two types of phasing element - square ring and complementary square ring. The
complementary square ring is used for the phase values that are not covered by the single ring
element. The grid size of the array is 0.28λ X 0.28λ at operating frequency 5 GHz that is
much smaller than the conventional periodicity 0.5λ X 0.5λ. The aim of unit cell design is to
have a slower slope of the reflection phase graph without sacrificing the phase range of 360°
where in general there is a trade-off between these two goals. The maximum slope in
reflection phase graph is obtained here is 34°/mm. The proposed array is fabricated on a low
loss PTFE substrate of thickness 3.175 mm (0.053λ at 5 GHz) and illuminated by a horn
antenna. Radiation pattern results show a very précised far-field beam with 3-dB beamwidth
of 7° and 7.3° for two principle planes respectively. The gain of the antenna is 26 dBi at 5

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GHz.The fabricated structure with simulated as well as measured results are shown in the
figure below.

Fig. 5 (a) Fabricated reflectarray (b) Simulated 3-dimensional radiation pattern (c) and (d)
measured, and simulated pattern at two principal planes, respectively.

DESIGN of a THZ LOOP YAGI-UDA ABSORBER

In this section, we present a three-dimensional loop Yagi-Uda array for efficient, polarization
independent and directional absorption of THz radiation over a narrow frequency range
(f0=0.657 THz & Q factor=7.5). The unit cell of the array consists of three vertically stacked
gold micro rings separated from each other by 30 µm thick SU-8 layers. In Yagi-Uda antenna
terminology, from top to bottom, the three ring elements are called as director, feed (or driven
element) and reflector, respectively. The proposed array also exhibits a filtering response in
its transmittance spectrum. The characteristics are explained by plasmon hybridization
method. The transmission, reflection and absorption spectra of the structure are measured and
they show a good agreement with corresponding simulated results. The simulated and
measured transmission, reflection and absorption spectra are shown in the Fig. 6 (a), (b) and

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(c), respectively.

Fig. 6 (a) Transmission (b) reflection (c) absorption and (d) electric field distribution of the
Yagi-Uda structure.

During measurement, the Yagi-Uda array was illuminated from both director and
reflector side. Left and right panels of Fig. 6 (a), (b) and (c) represent the spectra obtained
while Yagi-Uda was illuminated from director and reflector side, respectively. There is a
significant difference between reflection spectra for two opposite side illumination. As a
result, a narrow peak is observed while the THz signal is impinged from director side. The
peak is missing for reflector side illumination. This directional and narrow band absorption
can potentially be employed for high resolution sensing and non-invasive imaging. Moreover,
due to the coupling between multiple rings, there is continuous zero-transmission from 0.6 to
1.1 THz. Therefore, the structure can be employed as broadband stop spatial filter.

FUTURE PROSPECT

So far, in this thesis, we have studied the interaction of wave and periodic array of
sub-wavelength resonators in order to manipulate electromagnetic wave propagation in RF
and THz spectral range. The potential applications of these structures can constitute further
research works. Like, the reflectarray antenna can actually be employed for a long-distance
wireless power transfer. The non-invasive imaging device can be made out of periodic array
of Yagi-Uda absorbers. The plasmonic filter can be shown as a real sensor with high
efficiency. Furthermore, active elements like phase change materials or graphene can be
incorporated to make tunable THz devices.
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List of publications:

Peer reviewed journals

1. A Pattanayak , S Roy, G Rana, SP Duttagupta, VG Achanta & SS Prabhu, "Study of THz-

Plasmon hybridization of a loop Yagi-Uda absorber, " Scientific Reports, vol. 7 (Nature Publishing
Group), 16961 (2017).

2. A Pattanayak, G Rana, SP Duttagupta, PS Gandhi, AA Deshmukh, "Design of a 5 GHz

reflectarray with reduced size unit cell and extremely low phase sensitivity, " Radioengineering
(Accepted for publication).

International conferences

3. A Pattanayak, G Rana, SP Duttagupta, PS Gandhi, "A broadband reflectarray with combination of

subwavelength phasing elements, " Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference (APMC), 2016, New Delhi.

4. R Bhadresha, J Sukham, A Pattanayak, G Rana, P Deshmukh, SS Prabhu, and SP Duttagupta,"

Tera Hertz Bandpass Filter Based on Sub-wavelength Apertures in Micro-scale Thin Metal Films," in
40th International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz 2015),
Hong Kong, 24 August 2015.

Invited presentation

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5. A Pattanayak, G Rana, SP Duttagupta, PS Gandhi, VG Achanta, and SS Prabhu,“Parametric Study
of a THz-Loop Yagi-Uda Absorber,”in 10th Asian Symposium on Intense Laser Science (ASILS
2017-18), Sharjah,UAE, 10 March 2018.
6. A Pattanayak and SP Duttagupta,“Materials and Devices for Pencil Beam Generation in RF and
THz,” in International Conference on New Scintillations on Materials Horizon (ICNSMH-2016),
Bareilly, India, 23 October 2016.

Patent

7. SP Duttagupta, A Pattanayak,G Rana,Surya Prakash, S Duttagupta, M Nambiar, " RF/THz pencil

beam excited APD array as a low latency, precision scanning temperature probe for proximate and
remote hotspot mapping in high performance computing systems, " US Patent Application.

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