Open AccessVanadium dioxide based broadband THz metamaterial absorbers with high tunability: simulation study
Author(s) -
Shengxiang Wang,
Chengfeng Cai,
Menghan You,
Fangyan Liu,
Menghao Wu,
Songzhan Li,
Huaguang Bao,
Lei Kang,
Douglas H. Werner
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.27.019436
Subject(s) - terahertz radiation , metamaterial , materials science , optics , optoelectronics , broadband , metamaterial absorber , molar absorptivity , photonic metamaterial , absorption (acoustics) , electromagnetic radiation , split ring resonator , transmittance , physics , tunable metamaterials , composite material
With their unprecedented flexibility in manipulating electromagnetic waves, metamaterials provide a pathway to structural materials that can fill the so-called "THz gap". It has been reported that vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) experiences a three orders of magnitude increase in THz electrical conductivity when it undergoes an insulator-to-metal transition. Here, we propose a VO 2 based THz metamaterial absorber exhibiting broadband absorptivity that arises from the multiple resonances supported by a delicately balanced doubly periodic array of VO 2 structures and numerically demonstrate that the corresponding absorption behavior is highly dependent on the VO 2 's THz electrical properties. Considering the phase transition induced dramatic change in VO 2 's material property, the proposed metamaterial absorbers have the potential for strong modulation and switching of broadband THz radiation.