Tunable nonlinear and active THz devices based on hybrid graphene metasurfaces

Graphene is a two-dimensional layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice, whose outstanding properties makes it an excellent material for future electronic and photonic terahertz (THz) devices. In this work, we design hybrid graphene metasurfaces by using a monolayer graphene placed over a metallic grating, operating in the THz frequency range. Perfect absorption can be achieved at the resonance, where the electric field is greatly enhanced due to the coupling between the graphene and the grating plasmonic responses. The enhancement of the electric field along the graphene monolayer, as well as the large nonlinear conductivity of graphene, can dramatically boost the nonlinear response of the proposed THz device. In addition, the presented enhanced nonlinear effects can be significantly tuned by varying the doping level of graphene. The proposed structure can be used in the design of THz-frequency generators and all-optical processors.