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Our work presents a novel technique to encode information onto terahertz metasurfaces comprised of geometrically identical unit cell arrays. Previous demonstrations on metasurfaces or frequency-selective surfaces have shown interesting concepts to engineer electromagnetic radiation, but such designs often require a spatial arrangement of geometrically varying unit cells, either by shape, size, orientation, etc. In some cases, the output response can be mapped by examining the arrangement of atoms. Here, we show that by fabricating an array of resonant structures that are nominally identical visually, but where individual structures can have different conductivities, we can hide image information that is revealed when imaged using the appropriate terahertz frequency and polarization. This is achieved because changes in the structure’s conductivity correspond to changes in the depth of the resonant absorption observed in transmission. Using the simplest unit cell consisting of a single dipole, we create images that have up to 9 different discernible gray levels when interrogated at a single frequency. When a slightly more complex cross structure is used in the unit cell, 36 discernible levels are encoded in the image using two different polarizations. Finally, when the unit cell consists of multiple dipoles designed for multiple frequencies, we observe 64 unique colors in an encoded image. We believe our results present a unique approach for hiding information that could be applied to security-related applications.

An electrically tunable terahertz (THz) plasmonic device is designed and fabricated using liquid metals (eutectic gallium indium) and shape memory alloy wires (Flexinol). The liquid metal is injected into the voids of a poly(dimethyl) siloxane microfluidic mold forming a periodic array of subwavelength apertures, while the wires are inserted into the elastomer below the metal plane. When a DC voltage is applied to the wires, they contract via Joule heating, reducing the aperture periodicity and blueshifting the transmission resonances of the device. When the voltage is removed, the wires cool and elongate back to their original length, allowing the transmission spectrum to return to its original state. The magnitude of this change depends upon the applied voltage. The device is shown to thermally cycle between the relaxed state and the fully contracted state reproducibly over at least 500 thermal cycles. The asymmetric geometry of the device and the contraction process yield transmission properties that are unexpected: two closely spaced resonances, where both resonances correspond to the same scattering indices, and an increase in the transmission amplitude of the lowest order resonance upon contraction. Numerical simulations are used to understand these features.