We experimentally demonstrate the active manipulation of terahertz (THz) waves using a periodic array of electrostatically actuated subwavelength microelectromechanical system cantilevers, which effectively behave like a metamaterial. The design methodology for achieving desired ON-and OFF-state resonance frequencies through electromechanical optimization is presented. The microcantilever metamaterial has a switching range of 0.29 THz and a modulation depth of 60% at 0.59 THz. Utilizing metal

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... yer thickness to optimize the devices, an improvement of 40% is achieved in switching range. The microcantilever metamaterials are highly miniaturized, extremely scalable, and electrically controlled with attractive electro-optic performance. Multiple cantilevers can be placed in a desired fashion to form complex unit cell geometry to realize advanced THz manipulation, such as polarization switching, bandwidth tunable filters, multicolor imagers, and so on. [2015-0090] Index Terms-Digital metamaterial, MEMS metamaterial, microcantilevers, reconfigurable, switchable, terahertz.