Design of high-Q and high-sensitivity terahertz metamaterial sensors for trace detection

In order to satisfy the sensing requirement for low-concentration or even trace detection using Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy, a new metamaterial sensor (MS) based on a double-opening elliptical ring array is designed by electromagnetic simulations. After optimization of the MS structure, the proposed MS has a strong resonant peak absorption peak around 2.853 THz and is entitled with high-Q and high-sensitivity simultaneously. The Q-value of the designed MS can reach to 385.0 and the sensitivity can reach to 371.5 GHz/RIU for a dielectric analyte with a thickness of 30 μm and it still can remain 40.0 GHz/RIU for a very thin analyte with a thickness of 1 μm. These results indicate that the designed MS has good sensing performance and can potentially be applied to high-sensitive detection of low-concentration or even trace samples.