Fabrication of 2D and 3D electromagnetic metamaterials for the terahertz range

Abstract

This paper addresses the 2D and 3D micro- and nanofabrication of ElectroMagnetic MetaMaterials (EM3) for the terahertz range. EM 3 refers to artifbial composite materials which consist of a collection of repeated metal elements designed to have a strong response to applied electromagnetic felds, so that near resonance both the effective permittivity and magnetic permeability ν become simultaneously negative. This unusual situation leads to exotic consequences such as a negative index of refraction and an inverse Doppler and Cerenkov effect. EM3 fabricated so far have been mostly two-dimensional and in this respect are highly anisotropic. By anisotropic, it is inferred that the response of the system depends on the direction of illumination. The anisotropic nature of the metamaterials impedes eventual real-life applications of the negative media as it places constraints on the impinging electromagnetic waves. Ways of producing three-dimensional (3D) or more isotropic EM3 by means of tilted x-ray exposures will be introduced. Basic geometry tells us that if the structures are inclined at 30-45°, this would lead to an improvement of the coupling of the vector by 50-70% © 2006 IOP Publishing Ltd.