Thermally induced tunability of a terahertz metamaterial by using a specially designed nematic liquid crystal mixture

Kowerdziej, Rafał, Marek Olifierczuk, and Janusz Parka. "Thermally induced tunability of a terahertz metamaterial by using a specially designed nematic liquid crystal mixture." Optics Express 26, no. 3 (2018): 2443-2452.

Abstract

The search for new low loss nematic liquid crystal mixtures with enhanced birefringence and low temperature of nematic-to-isotropic phase transition plays a pivotal role in a development of new applications in the emerging field of thermally tunable metamaterials. Here we maximize thermally induced tunability of a terahertz metamaterial by using a specially designed nematic liquid crystal mixture. It is shown that the resonant response of a metamaterial device can be effectively tuned both in terms of its magnitude and wavelength with the spectral tunability approaching the theoretical limit of 8 GHz. Electromagnetic simulations confirm our tests and match the experimental observations well. The suggested approach opens new routes for next-generation soft-matter-based filtering and sensing components and devices.

"of the metamaterial when loaded with a nematic liquid crystal mixture during the heating process, THz-TDS (TeraView TPS 3000 …" 

for full paper see https://www.osapublishing.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-26-3-2443

for more information about TeraView is https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=14796