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Fakultät Physik

Dr. Siyu Duan’s project of terahertz hybrid metasurfaces funded by the DFG Walter Benjamin Programme

Schematic showing a metasurface and its response to incident THz radiation © Siyu Duan​/​TU Dortmund
The German Research Foundation (DFG) recently awarded a two-year postdoctoral fellowship through the renown Walter Benjamin Programme to Dr. Siyu Duan to support her research project on nonlinear dynamic manipulation of terahertz waves by superconductor-metal hybrid metasurfaces in the Department of Physics at TU Dortmund University.

Although the investigations of a few quantum materials have demonstrated remarkable nonlinear effects in the terahertz (THz) frequency range of the electromagnetic spectrum, it remains experimentally challenging to generate strong THz electric field. Moreover, our understanding of the observed nonlinearity is still limited. At the same time, these nonlinear effects hold significant potential for the development of THz devices. In a two-year research project funded now by the German Research Foundation (DFG) through the Walter Benjamin Programme, Dr. Siyu Duan will employ an innovative approach using superconductor-metal hybrid metasurfaces to achieve nonlinear and ultrafast dynamic control of THz waves. She will extend her previous experience on time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy and fabrication of hybrid metasurfaces [e.g. Nature Communications 15, 1119 (2024)] to the studies of heterostructures based on unconventional superconductors, and aim to gain further insights on unconventional superconductivity and the possibilities of manipulating the involved nonlinear optical phenomena.