Dual-color terahertz spatial light modulator for single-pixel imaging

Spatial light modulators (SLM), capable of dynamically and spatially manipulating electromagnetic waves, have reshaped modern life in projection display and remote sensing. The progress of SLM will expedite next-generation communication and biomedical imaging in the terahertz (THz) range. However, most current THz SLMs are adapted from optical alternatives that still need improvement in terms of uniformity, speed, and bandwidth. Here, we designed, fabricated, and characterized an 8 × 8 THz SLM based on tunable liquid crystal metamaterial absorbers for THz single-pixel compressive imaging. We demonstrated dual-color compressive sensing (CS) imaging for dispersive objects utilizing the large frequency shift controlled by an external electric field. We developed auto-calibrated compressive sensing (ACS) algorithm to mitigate the impact of the spatially nonuniform THz incident beam and pixel modulation, which significantly improves the fidelity of reconstructed images. Furthermore, the complementary modulation at two absorption frequencies enables Hadamard masks with negative element values to be realized by frequency-switching, thereby halving the imaging time. The demonstrated imaging system paves a new route for THz single-pixel multispectral imaging with high reliability and low cost.