Double-layer structural design of dielectric ordered mesoporous carbon/paraffin composites for microwave absorption

Microwave absorbing materials composed of ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) as absorbent and paraffin as matrix were prepared, and their electromagnetic and microwave absorbing properties could be tuned by changing the weight fraction of OMC at 2–18 GHz. The minimum reflection loss (RL) value reached ?9.3 dB at 8.0 GHz and the absorption range with RL lower than ?5 dB was obtained at 5.8–14.4 GHz for a single-layer absorber filled with 1.98 wt.% OMC at 3.0 mm. If a double-layer structure was adopted, the total thickness of the absorber could be reduced below 2.0 mm and the effective absorption range (RL<?10 dB) could be obtained at 8.9–14.3 GHz with a minimal RL of ?28.5 dB at 10.6 GHz. This work demonstrated that dielectric composites could be used as excellent absorbers by adopting reasonable multilayer structures.     

Metamaterial absorber and extending absorbance bandwidth based on multi-cross resonators

In this paper, we report the design, simulation, and measurements of a broadband metamaterial absorber (MA) based on a periodic array of multi-layer cross-structure resonators. A perfect narrowband MA consists of cross-structure resonator, dielectric substrate, and continuous metal films, and the absorption frequency can be tunable by changing the geometrical parameters based on L-C resonance circuit theory. Furthermore, the absorption band of our design is effectively extended by simply stacking several such structural layers with different geometrical dimensions. Finally, the 4-layer cross-structure MA is only 2 mm, which can achieve a full width at half maximum (FWHM) bandwidth of 2 GHz by numerical simulations, and 90 % bandwidth of 1.9 GHz by experiments.     

Broadband LWIR and MWIR absorber by trapezoid multilayered grating and SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> hybrid structures

A broadband metamaterial absorber with high absorption simultaneously in mid-wave infrared (MWIR) and long-wave infrared (LWIR) was proposed. In the MWIR, the absorption higher than 0.8 is from 4 to 6.3 µm, while the absorption in the LWIR is from 8.7 and 9.6 µm. The absorber is insensitive to the incident angle. The broadband absorption in the MWIR is due to the slow-light effect of the trapezoid multilayered grating structure. And the broadband absorption in the LWIR is due to the phonon polariton resonant of trapezoid SiO₂ layer. In the broadband high absorption region, the atmosphere is transparent, which may greatly promote the practical application of the absorber in double-color IR imaging, detecting, infrared stealth and thermal emitting.     

Double-layer microwave absorber of nanocrystalline strontium ferrite and iron microfibers

Microwave absorption properties of the nanocrystalline strontium ferrite (SrFe₁₂O₁₉) and iron (α-Fe) microfibers for single-layer and double-layer structures are investigated in a frequency range of 2 GHz-18 GHz. For the single-layer absorbers, the nanocrystalline SrFe₁₂O₁₉ microfibers show some microwave absorptions at 6 GHz-18 GHz, with a minimum reflection loss (RL) value of -11.9 dB at 14.1 GHz for a specimen thickness of 3.0 mm, while for the nanocrystalline α-Fe microfibers, their absorptions largely take place at 15 GHz-18 GHz with the RL value exceeding -10 dB, with a minimum RL value of about -24 dB at 17.5 GHz for a specimen thickness of 0.7 mm. For the double-layer absorber with an absorbing layer of α-Fe microfibers with a thickness of 0.7 mm and matching layer of SrFe₁₂O₁₉ microfibers with a thickness of 1.3 mm, the minimum RL value is about -63 dB at 16.4 GHz and the absorption band width is about 6.7 GHz ranging from 11.3 GHz to 18 GHz with the RL value exceeding -10 dB which covers the whole K_u-band (12.4 GHz-18 GHz) and 27% of X-band (8.2 GHz-12.4 GHz).     

Broadband visible metamaterial absorber based on a three-dimensional structure

In this paper, a broadband metamaterial absorber is successfully designed by a three-dimensional structure. And the three-dimensional absorber is just obtained by a two-dimensional structure which rotates 90°along x-axis. The simulated results show that the absorption of the three-dimensional metamaterial absorber is much better than the two-dimensional absorber. Moreover, the absorber is polarization-sensitive for the incident electromagnetic waves due to the asymmetry of the structure. Compared with the Y-polarization wave, the proposed absorber can realize broadband absorption with greater than 90% from 355.6 to 737.7 THz for X-polarized wave. Finally, based on the analysis of the electric field and surface current distributions, it can demonstrate that the localized surface plasmons and dipoles resonances will play an important role in the broadband absorption. And we believe that the metamaterial absorber will have many potential applications in emitter and energy harvesting.     

Design and model of wideband absorber made of ultrathin metamaterial structures

A planar microwave ultrathin broadband absorber is proposed. It is composed of metallic patterns arranged on a dielectric material which is backed by a copper plate. The patterns of different dimensions allow to judiciously design absorption peaks at specific frequencies of interest. These peaks are due to the mode resonances of the cavities formed by the metallic patches, the dielectric substrate and the copper plate. In order to widen the absorption bandwidth, patterns of different dimensions are used, together with the different modes of these cavities. Numerical and experimental results are presented to validate the proposed method at microwave frequencies. It is also shown that the use of a composite air dielectric substrate supporting the metallic patterns helps to increase the absorption level.     

Low-frequency and broadband metamaterial absorber based on lumped elements: design,characterization and experiment

In this paper, we propose and experimentally validate a low-frequency metamaterial absorber (MMA) based on lumped elements with broadband stronger absorptivity in the microwave regime. Compared with the electric resonator structure MMA, the composite MMA (CMMA) loaded with lumped elements has stronger absorptivity and nearly impedance-matched to the free space in a broadband frequency range. The simulated voltage in lumped elements and the absorbance under different substrate loss conditions indicate that incident electromagnetic wave energy is mainly transformed to electric energy in the absorption band with high efficiency and subsequently consumed by lumped resistors. Simulated surface current and power loss density distributions further clarify the mechanism underlying observed absorption. The CMMA also shows a polarization-insensitive and wide-angle strong absorption. Finally, we fabricate and measure the MMA and CMMA samples. The CMMA yields below ?10 dB reflectance from 2.85 to 5.31 GHz in the experiment, and the relative bandwidth is about 60.3 %. This low-frequency microwave absorber has potential applications in many martial fields.     

Novel one-dimensional polyaniline/Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 hybrid nanostructure: synthesis,magnetic, and electromagnetic wave absorption properties

For the first time, the novel one-dimensional uniform polyaniline (PANI)/Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ (NZFO) hybrid nanorods were synthesized by an in situ polymerization approach with the assistance of ultrasound and magnetic field. Owing to the unique shape, structure, and chemical composition, the as-synthesized hybrid nanorods with different PANI/NZFO mass ratios possess adjustable magnetic properties, high-saturated magnetization, and coercivity. In addition, these hybrid nanorods present stronger reflection loss and a wider absorption band than pure NZFO. Especially, the hybrid nanorods containing 59 wt% NZFO exhibit excellent microwave absorption properties, with a maximum reflection loss (R _L) of ?27.5 dB observed at 6.2 GHz. And the widest absorption band (R _L ≤ ?10 dB) is 8.1 GHz, corresponding to a matching thin thickness of 2 mm. It is superior to the previously reported value of PANI/ferrite. Therefore, these PANI/NZFO hybrid nanorods may be candidates for lightweight, low-cost, broadband, and highly efficient microwave-absorbing materials.     

Magnetic medium broadband metamaterial absorber based on the coupling resonance mechanism

In this paper, we present a design, simulation and experimental measurement of a metamaterial absorber (MMA) in the microwave regime. The proposed MMA structure consists of periodic cross electric resonators separated from the ground metal plane using a magnetic composite layer. The broadband absorption can be ascribed to the periodic cross electric resonators. The anti-parallel currents are observed at the peak frequency on the surface of the MMA and the ground metal plane, respectively, and thus the coupled resonance magnetic field occurs in the magnetic medium resulting in the magnetic loss. The new absorption peak located at 2.8 GHz broadens the whole absorption spectrum. The frequency of this peck is lower than that of the cross resonator of 3.7 GHz, suggesting the distinguish resonance mechanism: the absorbing properties are ascribed to the phase cancellation, Ohmic loss, dielectric loss at the end of the cross pattern, and the magnetic loss caused by the above mentioned coupled magnetic field. The obvious absorption peak at 2.8 GHz is also observed experimentally verifying the simulation result. All these results indicate the proposed MMA structure is promising for microwave absorbing application.     

Optimization of electromagnetic matching of carbonyl iron/BaTiO3 composites for microwave absorption

Microwave absorbing materials filled with BaTiO₃ and carbonyl iron (CI) particles with various weight fractions (BaTiO₃/CI particles=100/0 to 0/100) are investigated. The dielectric and magnetic properties of the absorbers can be tuned by changing the weight ratio of BaTiO₃/CI particles in the frequency range of 2-18 GHz. Numerical simulations are also performed to design a single-layer and double-layer absorber. The minimum reflection loss of the composite filled with 20 wt% BaTiO₃ and 60 wt% CI particles at 2.0 mm thickness can be reached to −42 dB at 4.1 GHz. With the weight ratio of CI particles in the composite increased, the microwave absorption peak shifted to the lower frequency region. By using a double-layer absorber structure, the microwave absorption performance of the absorber is enhanced. The result shows that the total thickness of the absorber can be reduced below 1.4 mm by using a matching layer filled with 50 wt% BaTiO₃, and an absorption layer filled with 60 wt% BaTiO₃ and 20 wt% CI particles, whereas the reflection loss below −10 dB can be obtained in the frequency range of 10.8-14.8 GHz and the minimum reflection loss of −59 dB can be obtained at 12.5 GHz.     

基于电阻型频率选择表面的低频宽带超材料吸波体的设计

基于电阻型频率选择表面(Resistance Frequency Selective Surface, RFSS) 设计了一种低频宽带、 极化不敏感和宽入射角特性的超材料吸波体. 该吸波体的基本单元由开槽十字型平面超材料(Cave Cross Planar Metamaterial, CCPM)、 RFSS、 电介质基板和金属背板组成. 采用FDTD方法数值模拟得到的结果表明: 相比于单纯的CCPM吸波体、 RFSS吸波体, CCPM和RFSS复合结构吸波体低频吸收特性得到极大改善, 在整个1-5 GHz频率范围内, 吸收率大于80%, 吸收峰值达到98%以上. 数值模拟得到的不同极化角和不同入射角下的吸收率表明: 该复合结构吸波体具有极化不敏感和宽角度吸收特性.     

圆环结构人工电磁吸波材料的仿真与实验研究

提出了两种圆环型微波电谐振结构,这两种谐振结构分别与金属线进行适当的组合形成电磁耦合单元,对正入射的电磁波产生谐振响应并具有强烈的吸收作用.通过对两种耦合单元的电磁仿真和优化计算使其各自获得最佳的吸波性能.在微波段8—12 GHz利用自由空间法对这两种耦合结构的电磁特性(即反射系数S₁₁和透射系数S₂₁)进行实验测量,在10.7 GHz和10.07 GHz吸收率分别达到95%和98%以上. 关键词： 耦合单元 吸收率 阻抗匹配     

A design of ultra-broadband metamaterial absorber

In this paper, an ultra-broadband, wide-angle polarization-insensitive metamaterial absorber is designed at microwave frequencies. The absorber consists of a periodic array of metallic strips with the lumped resistances fabricated on a dielectric substrate with a ground plane. The proposed absorber is single-layered and symmetric, thus leading to very thin and polarization-insensitive characteristics. According to the surface current distributions, the proposed absorber can operate three resonant modes including two dipole resonances and an LC resonance. By adjusting the geometry and lumped resistances of the structure, three resonant modes can be effectively connected together, and thus an ultra-broadband response can be realized. The simulated and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed absorber produces a good absorption above 80% at normal incidence and above 60% at oblique incidence with the incident angle smaller than 45° between 6 and 16.2 GHz.     

基于电阻膜与分形频率选择表面的超薄宽频带超材料吸波体的设计

设计了一种基于一阶Minkowski分形双方环(Minkowski fractal double square loop, MFDSL)电谐振器结构与电阻膜复合的超薄、 宽频带、极化不敏感和宽入射角的超材料吸波体. 该吸波体的基本结构单元由MFDSL电谐振器结构、方块电阻膜、电介质基板和金属背板组成. 采用时域有限差分算法对这种复合结构吸波体的电磁波吸收特性进行数值模拟分析. 模拟得到的反射率和吸收率表明: 该吸波体在7.5-42 GHz之间对入射电磁波具有大于90%以上的强吸收特性. 模拟得到的不同极化角和不同入射角下的吸收率表明: 该吸波体具有极化不敏感和宽入射角特性. 进一步的数值模拟结果表明, 该复合结构吸波体对电磁波的吸收主要是基于电磁谐振和电路谐振机制, 通过方块电阻的设计可以实现工作频率范围的调节. 关键词： 电阻膜 分形频率选择表面 宽频带吸收     

Broadband 3D isotropic negative-index metamaterial based on fishnet structure

In this paper, we numerically demonstrate a broadband 3D isotropic negative index metamaterial (NIM) at microwave frequency ranges, which is composed of double periodic array metallic fishnet structure (FS) etched on the six sides of a cubic dielectric substrate. The electric and magnetic L-C resonance circuit models are constructed to demonstrate the broadband resonance properties of the proposed 3D metamaterial. The finite integration technology (FIT) simulation and standard S parameters retrieval methods are used to calculate and analyze the negative characteristics, isotropy and polarization of the 3D model. The numerical results show that the negative index bandwidth is about 7 GHz and relative bandwidth can be up nearly to 63%, the negative-index pass band is independent of the polarization of incident waves and is almost the same for different oblique incident angles. Thus, the proposed metamaterial is good candidate as a broad-band 3D isotropic NIMs.     

Ultra-thin broadband metamaterial absorber

The design, fabrication, and measurements of a broadband metamaterial absorber are reported. The proposed metamaterial absorber consists of circular metallic patches and a metallic ground plane separated by a dielectric layer. Increasing the number of metallic patches can broaden the frequency range when their resonances are closely packed together, thereby resulting in a broadband resonance. Experimental results show that the proposed absorber has high absorptivity, with a full width at half maximum absorption bandwidth of 2.8 GHz and the relative FWHM absorption bandwidth of 25.3?%. In addition, the absorber can operate at a wide range of incident angles under both transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarizations.     

A facile high‐performance SERS substrate based on broadband near‐perfect optical absorption

Plasmonic systems based on metal nanoparticles on a metal film with high optical absorption have generated great interests for surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). In this study, we prepare a broadband‐visible light absorber consisting Au nanotriangles on the surface of a continuous optically opaque gold film separated with a dielectric SiO₂ layer, which is a typical metal‐insulator‐metal (MIM) system, and demonstrate it as an efficient SERS substrate. The MIM nanostructure, prepared using nanosphere lithography with a very large area, shows a broadband with absorption exceeding 90% in the wavelength regime of 630–920 nm. We observe an average SERS enhancement factor (EF) as large as 4.9 × 10⁶ with a 22‐fold increase compared to a single layer of Au nanotriangles directly on a quartz substrate. A maximum SERS EF can be achieved by optimizing the thicknesses of the dielectric layer to control the optical absorption. Owing to the simple, productive, and inexpensive fabrication technique, our MIM nanostructure could be a potential candidate for SERS applications. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A pure dielectric metamaterial absorber with broadband and thin thickness based on a cross-hole array structure

A pure dielectric metamaterial absorber with broadband and thin thickness is proposed, whose structure is designed as a periodic cross-hole array. The pure dielectric metamaterial absorber with high permittivity is prepared by ceramic reinforced polymer composites. Compared with those with low permittivity, the absorber with high permittivity is more sensitive to structural parameters, which means that it is easier to optimize the equivalent electromagnetic parameters and achieve wide impedance matching by altering the size or shape of the unit cell. The optimized metamaterial absorber exhibits reflection loss below -10 dB in 7.93 GHz-35.76 GHz with a thickness of 3.5 mm, which shows favorable absorption properties under the oblique incidence of TE polarization (±45°). Whether it is a measured or simulated value, the strongest absorbing peak reaches below -45 dB, which exceeds that of most metamaterial absorbers. The distributions of power loss density and electric and magnetic fields are investigated to study the origin of their strong absorbing properties. Multiple resonance mechanisms are proposed to explain the phenomenon, including polarization relaxation of the dielectric and edge effects of the cross-hole array. This work overcomes the shortcomings of the narrow absorbing bandwidth of dielectrics. It demonstrates that the pure dielectric metamaterial absorber with high permittivity has great potential in the field of microwave absorption.     

Broad band metamaterial absorber based on wheel resonators with lumped elements for microwave energy harvesting

A new metamaterial absorber structure is designed and characterized both numerically and experimentally for microwave energy harvesting applications. The proposed structure includes four wheel resonators with different dimensions, from which the overall response of the structure can then be obtained by summing all the overlapping frequency responses corresponding to each dimension. The essential operation frequency range of the wheels is selected in such a way that the energy used in wireless communications and found within the environment that we live is absorbed. The dimensions are obtained using parametric study and genetic algorithm to realize wideband absorption response. When the simulation and measurement results are taken into account, it is observed that the metamaterial absorber based harvester has potential to absorb and convert microwave energy with an absorption ratio lying within the range of 80 and 99% for the frequency band of 3–5.9 and 7.3–8 GHz. The conversion efficiency of the structure as a harvester is found to be greater than 0.8 in the interval of 2–5 GHz. Furthermore, the incident angle and polarization dependence of the wheel resonator based metamaterial absorber and harvester is also investigated and it is observed that the structure has both polarization and incident angle independent frequency response with good absorption characteristics in the entire working frequency band. Hence, the suggested design having good absorption, polarization and angle independent characteristics with wide bandwidth is a potential candidate for future energy harvester using wireless communication frequency band.     

A second-order cross fractal meta-material structure used in low-frequency microwave absorbing materials

A second-order cross fractal meta-material structure was designed and fabricated in this project. A kind of conventional magnetic material which works at low frequency was used as the absorber substrate. The simulation results demonstrated an absorber band below ?10 dB between 4 and 8 GHz, and there was a 1.7 GHz expansion when the meta-material structure was not loaded. The experiment results indicated a similar absorber band between 3 and 5.5 GHz, which was 1.09 GHz wider than meta-material structure and the absorber band expanded by 88 %. Then we further analyzed the energy distribution on the surface of the meta-material structure which perfectly explained the expansion of the absorption band and implied a way to achieve a lower wider absorber band.