Terahertz addressed spatial light modulator based on bi-material cantilevers array

Abstract

This paper reports a novel spatial light modulator (SLM) with 256×256 pixels addressed by terahertz (THz) radiation. The SLM was realized by integrating metamaterial absorbers (MAs) into bi-material cantilever pixels and fabricated by a polyimide (PI) sacrificial layer process on a glass substrate. The device works passively in an optical reflection mode with no-electronic components and can easily achieve high resolution. The coaxial visible light was spatially modulated to a Gaussian spot and cross shape with the measured modulation sensitivity of 0.18 deg/μW and the theoretical time constant of 7.8ms.