Polarization-insensitive electromagnetically induced transparency and its sensing performance based on spoof localized surface plasmons in vanadium dioxide-based terahertz metasurfaces

Abstract

The multi-layer terahertz metasurfaces are designed to achieve polarization-insensitive electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect and its sensing performance based on spoof localized surface plasmons (S-LSPs). The unit cell of the proposed metasurfaces is comprised of a metallic spiral (MS) structure, square metal frame (SMF) structure, and vanadium dioxide (VO₂) layer. The EIT effect is realized by the bright-bright coupling between spoof electric localized surface plasmons (S-ELSPs) and electric dipole, which can be proved by the multipole scattering theory. The maximum value of transmission amplitude at the transparent window is 0.91, and the modulation depth can reach 51% by adjusting the conductivity of VO₂. The theoretical results based on the two-particle model show excellent agreement with the simulated results. Moreover, the change of polarization angle has little effect on the EIT effect and the proposed metasurfaces show polarization-insensitive characteristics. The slow light effect of the proposed metasurfaces can also be dynamically controlled by tuning the conductivity of VO₂. Due to the high Q value of the transparent window, the proposed metasurfaces exhibit excellent sensing performance, and the sensitivity is 0.172 THz RIU⁻¹. Our study provides a method for the fabrication of EIT metasurfaces and has a broad application prospect in slow light devices, sensors, and modulators.