Reconfigurable screen-printed terahertz frequency selective surface based on metallic checkerboard pattern

Abstract

Abstract We employed the screen-printing method to fabricate terahertz (THz) frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) featuring an inductive metallic checkerboard (i-MCB) pattern based on conductive silver ink onto a flexible polyethylene terephthalate substrate, chosen for its excellent THz transmission properties below 1 THz [Jin et al 2006 J. Korean Phys. Soc. 49 513–17]. Analytical studies, along with simulations and experiments, were conducted to investigate the filtering characteristics of the printed FSSs, confirming their functionality as a band-pass filter. Subsequently, we demonstrated the reconfigurability of a two-layer system by vertically stacking two layers. This was achieved by systematically shifting the position of the second layer in the x or y-direction relative to the first layer. Experimental verification revealed a significant variation in normalized transmission, ranging from 94% to 6% at 0.15 THz for type-I:i-MCBs and 90% to 5% at 0.20 THz for type-II:i-MCBs, respectively. This study presents a simple scheme for a reconfigurable screen-printed i-MCB-FSS operating in the THz range. Consequently, our findings demonstrate that screen printing method can effectively be employed for the large-scale production of THz FSSs.