TERAHERTZ RADIATION DETECTOR, FOCAL PLANE ARRAY INCORPORATING TERAHERTZ DETECTOR, MULTISPECTRAL METAMATERIAL ABSORBER, AND COMBINED OPTICAL FILTER AND TERAHERTZ ABSORBER

摘要

The invention provides a detector (10) comprising a metamaterial absorber (14, 16, 18) and a micro-bolometer (22) arranged to detect terahertz (THz) radiation. The metamaterial absorber can absorb multiple frequency bands, from the infrared and the THz regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The detector is scalable to be suitable for use in a focal plane array. The invention also provides a hybrid of a plasmonic filter, e.g. for optical radiation, and a metamaterial absorber for terahertz (and/or infrared) radiation, to create a single material capable of absorbing narrow band terahertz radiation and filtering radiation in another part of the spectrum, e.g. optical radiation. Such material has great potential in future imaging technology where hybridisation can maximise the spectral information density of an optical system.