A cavity-coupled microbolometer terahertz detector with a metamaterial reflector

In this article we experimentally demonstrate a tunable resonant THz detector constructed via the integration of a metamaterial (MM) reflector with a micro-bolometer sensor. The incident THz radiation onto the Nb
₅
N
₆
microbolometer is effectively manipulated by the reflector. The resonant frequency can be shifted by modifying the dimensions of the MM pattern and the air gap between the substrate and the MM reflector. The simulation results show the composite structure gives an enhancement of the electric field at the detector, which brings an improvement performance of the detector. All results discussed here can be extended to broad range of frequency and other type of THz detectors.