Research progress of metamaterials powered advanced terahertz biochemical sensing detection techniques

Abstract

The electromagnetic wave in the terahertz region shows many promising properties, such as non-ionizing, sensitivity to weak resonance, and gradually becomes a basic and applied research hotspot of physics, information, materials, biology, chemistry and other disciplines. However, the analyte molecules tend to be of subwavelength size, and cannot have sufficient interaction with the incident terahertz wave. Small disturbances and subtle features are difficult to detect, which undoubtedly hinders the further development of the terahertz biochemical sensing and detection. The rapid development of terahertz metamaterials provides an alternative method to overcome this obstacle. The intense electromagnetic field enhancement induced by metamaterials allows the sensing and detection application to surpass the limitation of classical terahertz spectroscopy, which is due to the enhancement of the interaction between the analyte and terahertz. In recent years, a series of researches based on terahertz metamaterials combined with new materials, new structures and new mechanisms has offered new opportunities for the application of highly sensitive terahertz biochemical sensing and detection. In this paper, the recent advances in the application of terahertz metamaterials biochemical sensing are reviewed. The related concepts are briefly introduced and the influences of different factors on the sensing performance of metamaterial sensor are analyzed. According to the material selection and design strategies, the related researches of terahertz metamaterial biochemical sensing and detection are summarized. Furthermore, the novel strategy of terahertz metamaterial sensing and detection application based on multidisciplinary are presented, and the future development directions are also discussed, which will greatly conduce to expanding the practicality of terahertz sensing and detection.