Niu Li, Feng Xi, Zhang Xueqian, Lu Yongchang, Wang Qingwei, Xu Quan, Chen Xieyu, Ma Jiajun, Qiu Haidi, Sha Wei E I, Zhang Shuang, Alù Andrea, Zhang Weili, Han Jiaguang
State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
Key Laboratory of Micro-nano Electronic Devices and Smart Systems of Zhejiang Province, College of Information Science & Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Nat Commun. 2025 Sep 1;16(1):8159. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-63127-5.
Phased arrays are crucial in various technologies, such as radar and wireless communications, due to their ability to precisely control and steer electromagnetic waves. This precise control improves signal processing and enhances imaging performance. However, extending phased arrays to the terahertz (THz) frequency range has proven challenging, especially for high-frequency operation, broadband performance, two-dimensional (2D) phase control with large antenna arrays, and flexible phase modulation. Here, we introduce a photonic platform to realize a THz phased array that bypasses the above challenges. Our method employs 2D phase coding with 2-bit across a broad THz frequency range from 0.8 to 1.4 THz. The core of our design is a pixelated nonlinear Pancharatnam-Berry (PB) metasurface driven by a spatially modulated femtosecond laser for selective excitation of the desired PB elements, allowing precise phase and wavefront control of the emitted THz signals. We showcase the effectiveness of our method through four proof-of-concept applications: single beamforming, dual beamforming, imaging, and vortex beam generation. The realized photonic platform provides a promising pathway for developing broadband phased arrays in the THz regime.
相控阵在雷达和无线通信等各种技术中至关重要，这是因为它们能够精确控制和引导电磁波。这种精确控制可改善信号处理并提高成像性能。然而，将相控阵扩展到太赫兹（THz）频率范围已被证明具有挑战性，特别是对于高频操作、宽带性能、大型天线阵列的二维（2D）相位控制以及灵活的相位调制。在此，我们介绍一种光子平台，以实现一个绕过上述挑战的太赫兹相控阵。我们的方法在从0.8到1.4太赫兹的宽太赫兹频率范围内采用2位的二维相位编码。我们设计的核心是一个像素化的非线性潘查拉特纳姆 - 贝里（PB）超表面，由空间调制的飞秒激光驱动，用于选择性激发所需的PB元件，从而允许对发射的太赫兹信号进行精确的相位和波前控制。我们通过四个概念验证应用展示了我们方法的有效性：单波束形成、双波束形成、成像和涡旋光束生成。所实现的光子平台为在太赫兹频段开发宽带相控阵提供了一条有前景的途径。
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