Nonreciprocal Graphene Devices and Antennas Based on Spatiotemporal Modulation

© 2002-2011 IEEE. A new class of magnet-free nonreciprocal plasmonic devices operating at terahertz (THz) frequencies is introduced based on the spatiotemporal modulation of graphene's conductivity. The proposed components are based on graphene parallel-plate waveguides with double-gated electrodes, which allow independent manipulation of graphene properties in both space and time. We employ this structure for the design of plasmonic isolators and leaky-wave antennas at THz frequencies and study the effect of graphene and modulation parameters on their response. We envision that this technology may pave the way towards silicon-compatible fully planar nonreciprocal plasmonic components and antennas with enhanced functionalities at THz, with important applications in biosensing, imaging, and intra/interchip communications.