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<p>In recent years, food safety and environmental quality issues have garnered widespread societal attention, placing higher demands on rapid, sensitive, and precise detection technologies. With continuous advancements in analytical techniques, terahertz (THz) waves are driving a paradigm shift in pollution detection due to their unique physical properties and sensing advantages—including molecular fingerprint recognition characteristics, strong penetration capability, low photon energy, broad spectral bandwidth, and coherent measurement capability. Particularly, when combined with metamaterials (Meta), THz waves can effectively enhance their interaction with substances, significantly expanding their application scope in trace detection and high-sensitivity sensing. This review summarizes the fundamental structural designs, key performance parameters (such as sensitivity, quality factor (Q-factor), and figure of merit (FOM)), and mainstream fabrication processes of Meta-THz sensors. It also provides an in-depth analysis of their core sensing mechanisms, primarily including refractive index (RI) sensing, biomass sensing, and fingerprint spectrum sensing. Furthermore, the review summarizes various optimization strategies developed in recent years to enhance sensor performance, encompassing integration with nanomaterials, flexible design, microfluidic integration, application of molecular imprinting techniques, multi-band and dual-resonance structural design, material optimization, and artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted inverse design. Despite the broad application prospects of Meta-THz sensors in food safety and environmental monitoring, they still face a series of challenges that constrain their practical implementation. These include high fabrication costs, interference from complex matrices, strong absorption in liquid phases, and inadequate portability. Future technological pathways, such as improved system integration and portable design, low-cost scalable manufacturing, continuous optimization of sensor architecture and performance, and advanced data analytics integration, offer promising routes to overcome these challenges. These developments will provide crucial theoretical and technical foundations for creating more efficient and intelligent monitoring platforms for food safety and environmental applications.</p>

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Terahertz metamaterial sensors for food safety and environmental monitoring: designs, mechanisms, and performance optimization

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月19日

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  • Ruohan Zhang,
  • Tong Li,
  • Zhengling Wang,
  • Abdul Wahab

摘要

In recent years, food safety and environmental quality issues have garnered widespread societal attention, placing higher demands on rapid, sensitive, and precise detection technologies. With continuous advancements in analytical techniques, terahertz (THz) waves are driving a paradigm shift in pollution detection due to their unique physical properties and sensing advantages—including molecular fingerprint recognition characteristics, strong penetration capability, low photon energy, broad spectral bandwidth, and coherent measurement capability. Particularly, when combined with metamaterials (Meta), THz waves can effectively enhance their interaction with substances, significantly expanding their application scope in trace detection and high-sensitivity sensing. This review summarizes the fundamental structural designs, key performance parameters (such as sensitivity, quality factor (Q-factor), and figure of merit (FOM)), and mainstream fabrication processes of Meta-THz sensors. It also provides an in-depth analysis of their core sensing mechanisms, primarily including refractive index (RI) sensing, biomass sensing, and fingerprint spectrum sensing. Furthermore, the review summarizes various optimization strategies developed in recent years to enhance sensor performance, encompassing integration with nanomaterials, flexible design, microfluidic integration, application of molecular imprinting techniques, multi-band and dual-resonance structural design, material optimization, and artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted inverse design. Despite the broad application prospects of Meta-THz sensors in food safety and environmental monitoring, they still face a series of challenges that constrain their practical implementation. These include high fabrication costs, interference from complex matrices, strong absorption in liquid phases, and inadequate portability. Future technological pathways, such as improved system integration and portable design, low-cost scalable manufacturing, continuous optimization of sensor architecture and performance, and advanced data analytics integration, offer promising routes to overcome these challenges. These developments will provide crucial theoretical and technical foundations for creating more efficient and intelligent monitoring platforms for food safety and environmental applications.