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.