High refractive index metamaterials using corrugated metallic slots.

We report on a method for realizing high refractive index metamaterials using corrugated metallic slot structures at terahertz frequencies. The effective refractive index and peak index frequency can be controlled by varying the width of the air gap in the corrugated slot arrays. The phenomenon occurs because of the secondary resonance effect due to the fundamental inductive-capacitive resonance, which generates a red-shift of the fundamental resonance determined by twice the length of the corrugated metallic slots. In addition, multiple gaps in the corrugated slots act as plasmonic hotspots which have the properties of three-dimensional subwavelength confinement due to extremely strong enhancement of the terahertz waves. The versatile characteristics of the structures may have many potential applications in designing compact optical devices incorporating various functionalities and in developing highly sensitive spectroscopic/imaging systems.