Critical electromagnetic behavior of a metallic checkerboard film and its application to terahertz waves

Abstract

A metallic checkerboard film exhibits an “insulator-metal transition” in terms of its electromagnetic response, when its connection state at the corners is changed from disconnected to connected. In this paper, we show that an ideal checkerboard is a singular state for the transition between connection and disconnection. Next, we discuss an extraordinary frequency-independent response of an intermediately connected checkerboard with a resistive connection. Finally, we introduce dynamic terahertz devices utilizing the critical transition of checkerboards.