Out-of-plane actuation with a sub-micron initial gap for reconfigurable terahertz micro-electro-mechanical systems metamaterials

We propose a reconfigurable terahertz (THz) metamaterial that can control the transmittance by out-of-plane actuation with changing the sub-micron gap distance between electrically coupled metamaterial elements. By using the out-of-plane actuation, it was possible to avoid contact between the coupled metamaterial elements across the small initial gap during the adjustment of the gap size. THz spectroscopy was performed during actuation, and the transmission dip frequency was confirmed to be tunable from 0.82 to 0.92 THz for one linear polarization state and from 0.80 to 0.91 THz for the other linear polarization; the two polarizations were orthogonal. The proposed approach will contribute to the development of tunable metamaterials based on structural deformations. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America