Perfect metamaterial absorber design for solar cell applications

A new perfect metamaterial absorber based on metal-dielectric layer combination is designed and investigated to be used in solar cell application. The designed structure is particularly presented in the range of solar spectrum in order to utilize the solar energy effectively. Parametric studies with respect to the dimensions of the structure are carried out to characterize the absorber. According to the results, it is found that the metamaterial absorber has 99.99% absorption at 403.5 THz. In addition, the fractional bandwidth (FBW) of the absorption region is calculated and 22.2% FBW is obtained. Moreover the simulation results showed that the proposed design is also polarization and incident angle insensitive. As a result, the proposed metamaterial absorber provides perfect absorption for visible and near infrared frequency ranges and can be used for the realization of more efficient new solar cells.     

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.     

Extremely-broad band metamaterial absorber for solar energy harvesting based on star shaped resonator

A new metamaterial absorber (MA) is investigated and shown numerically for solar energy harvesting for future solar cell applications. The structure consists of two metals and one dielectric layer having different thicknesses. Owing to this combination, the structure exhibits plasmonic resonance characteristics. In the entire spectrum of visible frequency region, the obtained results show that investigated structure has perfect absorptivity which is above 91.8%. Proposed structure also has 99.87% absorption at 613.94 THz and 99% absorption between 548 and 669 THz. The proposed structure also shows both polarization and angle independency for the entire visible region. The MA based solar cell proposes high absorption with an upper ratio of 90% in the widest range of visible spectrum comparing to the studies in literature. Hence, the proposed metamaterial absorber solar cells can be used for invisibility in entire spectrum of visible light. The absorption characteristics of the solar absorber are also investigated for infrared and ultraviolet region. The enhancement of absorption of the structure will provide new type of sensors in these frequency ranges.     

A simple design of ultra-broadband and polarization insensitive terahertz metamaterial absorber

Ultra-broadband metamaterial absorbers have attracted considerable attention due to their great prospect for practical applications. These absorbers are usually stacked by many (no. <20) different shaped or sized subunits in a unit cell, making it quite troublesome to be fabricated. Simple design for ultra-broadband absorber is urgently necessary. Herein, we propose a simple design of ultra-broadband and polarization insensitive terahertz metamaterial absorber based on a double-layered composite structure on a metallic board, and each layer consists of two sets of different sized square metallic plates. Greater than 90 % absorption is obtained across a frequency range of 0.85 THz with the central frequency around 1.60 THz. The relative absorption bandwidth of the device is greatly improved to 53.3 %, which is much larger than previous results. The mechanism of the ultra-broadband absorber is attributed to the overlapping of four closely resonance frequencies. The proposed metamaterial absorber has potential applications in detection, imaging and stealth technology.     

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.     

An Infrared Metamaterial Broadband Absorber Based on a Simple Titanium Disk with High Absorption and a Tunable Spectral Absorption Band

A metamaterial absorber is proposed that functions in the medium- (3–5 µm) and long-wavelength (8–12 µm) infrared (medium-wavelength infrared, MWIR, and long-wavelength infrared, LWIR, respectively) regions. The proposed design, which consists of periodic cells, can be tuned to achieve single-band or dual-band light absorption by changing the periodicity of the structure. Each cell forming the metamaterial absorber consists of a bottom metal plate (Al), a top metal disk (Ti), and an intermediate dielectric medium (Si or ZnS) in which a metal disk (Ti) is embedded. For a period of 0.85 µm, the absorber achieves broadband absorption in the LWIR region, with an average absorption of 92.1%. Further, the absorber shows acceptable tolerance to irradiation at oblique incidence. For a period of 2 µm, a peak absorption of 99.05% is achieved in the MWIR region, thereby providing dual-band absorption. Tuning the periodicity of the structure enhances the localized surface plasmon resonance, with the absorption mechanism explained by establishing an equivalent parallel LC circuit. The absorption properties demonstrated by the proposed metamaterial absorber are promising for thermal imaging and infrared spectroscopy.     

Optical metamaterial absorber based on leaf-shaped cells

We present the model of an infrared metamaterial absorber composed of metallic leaf-shaped cells, dielectric substrate, and continuous metallic film. Numerical simulation confirms an absorptivity of 99.3% at the infrared frequency of 126.7 THz with this metamaterial model. The proposed metamaterial absorber could be fabricated with an electrochemical deposition technique. Our simulated results show the absorption feature of this metamaterial absorber could be well manipulated with different incident angles and radiation modes. The optical metamaterial absorber proposed in this paper has potential applications such as infrared imaging devices, thermal bolometers, wavelength-selective radiators, and optical bistable switches.     

基于二氧化钒宽、窄带可切换的双功能超材料吸收器研究

本文提出了一种宽、窄带可切换的双功能超材料吸收器.在超材料吸收器的结构中,引入了相变材料二氧化钒(VO2),仅利用单个可切换超表面就能实现不同的功能,其不同功能之间的相互转换通过VO2绝缘态和金属态之间的可逆相变特性实现.当VO2处于金属态时,设计的结构可以看作一个超材料宽带吸收器.仿真结果表明,在1.55THz至2....     

Ultra-wideband water-based metamaterial absorber with temperature insensitivity

The natural water has frequency dispersion and its permittivity is also related to temperature, which are important factors to design temperature insensitive absorber at microwave frequency. Here, a water-based metamaterial absorber which is fabricated by 3D-printing is proposed. The absorber can perform stably at different temperatures and it also shows 90% absorption in the frequency range of 7.9–21.7 GHz. The experiment proves that the absorber can work at a wide incident angle and is polarization insensitive. Based on these features, the water-based absorber could be applied to various electromagnetic scenarios such as stealth technology and electromagnetic compatibility in temperature-variable environment.     

准全向平板超材料吸波体的设计

本文设计了一种具有准全向吸波特性的平板超材料吸波体,其准全向吸波特性是由超材料吸波单元的双面吸波、极化不敏感和宽入射角实现的.理论分析和仿真结果表明:该吸波体在6.18 GHz的确有一个双面吸波的吸收点,且吸收率对极化角和入射角均不敏感.提取的等效阻抗表明可以调节超材料的电磁响应使其在吸收频率处与自由空间阻抗匹配来抑制反射.仿真的能量损耗分布表明:该吸波体对电磁波的吸收主要源于基板的介质损耗;采用两种不同介质基板的设计可使前吸波体与后吸波体的耦合度明显降低、抑制耦合所导致的传输.该吸波体可能在许多领域具有 关键词： 准全向吸波 双面吸波 极化不敏感 宽入射角     

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     

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.     

Design of a multiband terahertz perfect absorber

A thin-flexible multiband terahertz metamaterial absorber(MA) has been investigated. Each unit cell of the MA consists of a simple metal structure, which includes the top metal resonator ring and the bottom metallic ground plane,separated by a thin-flexible dielectric spacer. Finite-difference time domain simulation indicates that this MA can achieve over 99% absorption at frequencies of 1.50 THz, 3.33 THz, and 5.40 THz by properly assembling the sandwiched structure.However, because of its asymmetric structure, the MA is polarization-sensitive and can tune the absorptivity of the second absorption peak by changing the incident polarization angle. The effect of the error of the structural parameters on the absorption efficiency is also carefully analyzed in detail to guide the fabrication. Moreover, the proposed MA exhibits high refractive-index sensing sensitivity, which has potential applications in multi-wavelength sensing in the terahertz region.     

极化无关双向吸收超材料吸波体的仿真与实验验证

设计并制作出极化无关双向吸收超材料吸波体.仿真结果表明,该吸波体对斜入射横电极化和横磁极化电磁波具有较好的吸收效果,其强损耗主要来自介质基板的介电损耗.实验测试结果表明,该吸波体在11.1 GHz对垂直入射电磁波实现双向强吸收,吸收率分别为95.9％和90.8％.该吸波体厚度较薄,工作波长约为1/34.该超材料吸波体具有吸收率高、厚度薄、设计简单、易于加工等优点.     

缺陷组合嵌入VO2薄膜结构的可调太赫兹吸收器

提出一种多缺陷组合嵌入VO2薄膜结构的可调太赫兹吸收器,它由上表面金属图案层、基体和底层金属板三层结构组成,在上表面和基体之间嵌入二氧化钒介质.计算结果表明在f=4.08 THz和f=4.33 THz两频点吸收率分别为99.8%和99.9%.通过改变外界环境温度可控制二氧化钒相变,从而使两个频点吸收率从99.8%变化到1.0%.改变入射角和偏振态,计算结果表明在入射角0°-40°,吸收器在TE和TM两种极化波下吸收率都能在98%以上.该太赫兹波吸收器具有高吸收、动态调谐、极化不敏感等特性,本文所设计的可调太赫兹吸收器在太赫兹波相关领域,例如探测器、开关、动态调制器、隐身技术等方面具有很好的应用前景.     

Nearly perfect metamaterial plasmonic absorbers for solar energy applications

In this study, two different approaches for the design of broadband polarization-independent wide-angle metamaterial plasmonic absorbers (MPA) are presented. The proposed MPAs are made of periodic arrays of Nickel (Ni) or Wolfram (W) cubes. The top surfaces of the cubes are texturized using silicon dioxide (SiO₂). The proposed PMAs with two different optimized textures experience plasmonic resonance characteristics that enable near unity visible light absorption. The parametric studies carried on the proposed MPAs with the aid of 3D-FDTD method results in wide-angle near perfect absorption characteristic that is >?0.96 for all visible regimes. Additionally, the obtained results show almost perfect absorption of above 99% over the frequency ranges extending from?~?458 to?~?525 and?~?489 to?~?665 THz. Besides, numerical results demonstrate that the proposed PMAs also exhibit both polarization and angle independency for the whole visible regime. Further, the absorption characteristics of proposed MPAs near the infrared and ultraviolet regimes are investigated.     

Polarization-Independent Broadband Optical Regime Metamaterial Absorber for Solar Harvesting: A Numerical Approach

In this article, a broadband metamaterial (MTM) absorber is proposed that exhibits near-unity absorption in the terahertz regime. The proposed metamaterial absorber was initiated on a quartz (fused) substrate, whereas the resonator and backplane are constructed with tungsten. The resonator is designed with a square ring loaded with a face-to-face E structure at the center. It also consists of diagonally extended arrow-like shapes loaded from the corners and a concave-shaped structure extended from the middle of the square ring. Near-perfect absorption is observed at the frequencies of 465.2 THz, 585.2 THz, 648.8 THz, and 762.8 THz with absorption peaks of 99.8%, 99.9%, 99.92%, and 99.92%, respectively. Moreover, it exhibits broadband absorption properties above 90% absorption with bandwidths 20.4 THz, 80.8 THz, 41.6 THz, and 90 THz, respectively, at these resonance frequencies. Due to its symmetrical structure, it shows polarization-insensitivity behavior up to 90° with maximum absorption greater than 90% both in transverse (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes. It also exhibits insensitivity to changes of incident angle from 0°–45°. Metamaterial properties of the proposed absorber are also analyzed, showing single negative behavior. Absorber property has been examined through surface current and equivalent circuit electric and magnetic field analysis. The effect of the cross-polarization is negligible and is verified through simulation. Due to its large bandwidth, polarization-insensitive behavior, and low PCR, the proposed MTM absorber can be incorporated into photovoltaic devices as a solar-energy harvester.     

Multiband terahertz metamaterial absorber

This paper reports the design of a multiband metamaterial (MM) absorber in the terahertz region. Theoretical and simulated results show that the absorber has four distinct and strong absorption points at 1.69, 2.76, 3.41 and 5.06 THz, which are consistent with `fingerprints' of some explosive materials. The retrieved material parameters show that the impedance of MM could be tuned to match approximately the impedance of the free space to minimise the reflectance at absorption frequencies and large power loss exists at absorption frequencies. The distribution of the power loss indicates that the absorber is an excellent electromagnetic wave collector: the wave is first trapped and reinforced in certain specific locations and then consumed. This multiband absorber has applications in the detection of explosives and materials characterisation.     

极化控制的双波段宽带红外吸收器研究

红外吸收器在红外隐身、辐射制冷、红外探测、传感器等方面有重要的应用前景.一维光栅型吸收器由于其结构简单、易于加工的优势备受关注,然而其不足之处是频带很窄,且只对一种极化有效.本文提出了一种基于简单一维周期结构的双波段宽带吸收器,对横磁波和横电波都有效,且吸波频段随入射波的极化方式而改变.该结构的基本单元由八个梯度排列的子单元构成,每个子单元由两层金属-介质双层膜垂直层叠组成.全波仿真结果表明,在1.68—2μm波段,该结构对横磁波吸收超过90%,而对横电波吸收很小(小于6%);在3.8-3.9μm波段,该结构对横电波吸收超过90%,而对横磁波吸收很小(小于5%).另外,该结构具有宽角度吸收特性,当入射角增大到60°时仍然能够保持较高的吸收率和较宽的吸收频带.     

基于石墨烯和二氧化钒的太赫兹宽带可调谐超材料吸收器

太赫兹超材料吸收器作为一种重要的太赫兹功能器件,被广泛应用于生物医学传感、电磁隐身、军用雷达等多个领域.但这种传统的超材料吸收器结构具有可调谐性差、功能单一、性能指标不足等缺点,已经无法满足复杂多变的电磁环境的要求,因此可调谐超材料吸收器逐渐成为了太赫兹功能器件领域的研究热点.为实现超材料吸收器吸收特性的调谐,通常从调...