Terahertz technology promises myriad applications including imaging, spectroscopy andcommunications. However, one major bottleneck at present for advancing this field is the lackof efficient devices to manipulate the terahertz electromagnetic waves. Here we demonstratethat exceptionally efficient broadband modulation of terahertz waves at room temperature canbe realized using graphene with extremely low intrinsic signal attenuation. We experimentallyachieved more than 2.5 times superior modulation than prior broadband intensity modulators,which is also the first demonstrated graphene-based device enabled solely by intrabandtransitions. The unique advantages of graphene in comparison to conventional semiconductorsare the ease of integration and the extraordinary transport properties of holes, which are asgood as those of electrons owing to the symmetric conical band structure of graphene. Givenrecent progress in graphene-based terahertz emitters and detectors, graphene may offer someinteresting solutions for terahertz technologies.
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