Joint Laboratory for Extreme Conditions Matter Properties

Abstract In this paper, an active tunable terahertz bandwidth absorber based on single-layer graphene is proposed, which consists of a graphene layer, a photo crystal plate, and a gold substrate. When the Fermi energy ( E f ) of graphene is 1.5 eV, the absorber shows high absorption in the range of 3.7 THz–8 THz, and the total absorption rate is 96.8%. By exploring the absorption mechanism of the absorber, the absorber shows excellent physical regulation. The absorber also shows good adjustability by changing the E f of graphene. This means that the absorber exhibits excellent tunability by adjusting the physical parameters and E f of the absorber. Meanwhile, the absorber is polarization independent and insensitive to the incident angle. The fine characteristics of the absorber mean that the absorber has superior application value in many fields such as biotechnology and space exploration.

We present a novel, structurally simple, multifunctional broadband absorber. It consists of a patterned vanadium dioxide film and a metal plate spaced by a dielectric layer. Temperature control allows flexible adjustment of the absorption intensity from 0 to 0.999. The modulation mechanism of the absorber stems from the thermogenic phase change properties of the vanadium dioxide material. The absorber achieves total reflection properties in the terahertz band when the vanadium dioxide is in the insulated state. When the vanadium dioxide is in its metallic state, the absorber achieves near-perfect absorption in the ultra-broadband range of 3.7 THz-9.7 THz. Impedance matching theory and the analysis of electric field are also used to illustrate the mechanism of operation. Compared to previous reports, our structure utilizes just a single cell structure (3 layers only), and it is easy to process and manufacture. The absorption rate and operating bandwidth of the absorber are also optimised. In addition, the absorber is not only insensitive to polarization, but also very tolerant to the angle of incidence. Such a design would have great potential in wide-ranging applications, including photochemical energy harvesting, stealth devices, thermal emitters,

in the middle, and a bottom Au layer. The absorption sensor achieves the absorption efficiency of 99.41% and 99.22% at 5.664 THz and 8.062 THz, with the absorption bandwidths 0.0171 THz and 0.0152 THz, respectively. Compared with noble metal absorbers, our graphene absorber can achieve tunability by adjusting the Fermi level and relaxation time of the graphene layer with the geometry of the absorber unchanged, which greatly saves the manufacturing cost. The results show that the sensor has the properties of polarization-independence and large-angle insensitivity due to the symmetric structure. In addition, the practical application of testing the content of hemoglobin biomolecules was conducted, the frequency of first resonance mode shows a shift of 0.017 THz, and the second resonance mode has a shift of 0.016 THz, demonstrating the good frequency sensitivity of our sensor. The S (sensitivities) of the sensor were calculated at 875 GHz/RIU and 775 GHz/RIU, and quality factors FOM (Figure of Merit) are 26.51 and 18.90, respectively; and the minimum limit of detection is 0.04. By comparing with previous similar sensors, our sensor has better sensing performance, which can be applied to photon detection in the terahertz band, biochemical sensing, and other fields.

Solar energy absorption is a very important field in photonics. The successful development of an efficient, wide-band solar absorber is an extremely powerful driver in this field. We propose an ultra-wideband (UWB) solar energy absorber composed of a Ti ring and SiO2-Si3N4-Ti thin films. In the range of 300-4000 nm, the wide band has an absorption efficiency of more than 90% and can reach 3683 nm, and it has four absorption peaks with a high absorptivity. Moreover, the weighted average absorption efficiency of the solar absorber under AM 1.5 is maintained above 97.03%, which indicates it has great potential for use in the field of solar energy absorption. Moreover, we proved that the polarization is insensitive by analyzing the absorption characteristics at arbitrary polarization angles. For both the transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes, the UWB absorption is maintained at more than 90% in the wide incidence angle range of 60°. The UWB solar energy absorber has great potential for use in a variety of applications, such as converting solar light and heat into electricity for public use and reducing the side effects of coal-fired power generation. It can also be used in information detection and infrared thermal imaging owing to its UWB characteristics.

Abstract This study introduces an innovative dual-tunable absorption film with the capability to switch between ultra-wideband and narrowband absorption. By manipulating the temperature, the film can achieve multi-band absorption within the 30–45 THz range or ultra-wideband absorption spanning 30–130 THz, with an absorption rate exceeding 0.9. Furthermore, the structural parameters of the absorption film are optimized using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to ensure the optimal absorption response. The absorption response of the film is primarily attributed to the coupling of guided-mode resonance and local surface plasmon resonance effects. The film’s symmetric structure enables polarization incoherence and allows for tuning through various means such as doping/voltage, temperature and structural parameters. In the case of a multi-band absorption response, the film exhibits good sensitivity to refractive index changes in multiple absorption modes. Additionally, the absorption spectrum of the film remains effective even at large incidence angles, making it highly promising for applications in fields such as biosensing and infrared stealth.

film phase transition process. The impedance matching theory is applied to explain the high level of absorption generated by the absorber. Finally, the effects of the structural parameters on the performance of the absorber are analysed. This work will have many applications in the terahertz field and offers a wide range of ideas for the design of terahertz-enabled devices.

for the four absorption modes when the refractive index varies in the range of 1 to 1.9. This high-performance absorber has a very good development prospect in the frontier fields of bio-chemical sensing and special environmental detection.

Nowadays, solar energy is considered one of the most clean energy sources. In addition, the data from the literature tell us that its main radiation bandwidth is approximately 295-2500 nm. In this work, we proposed a novel kind of broadband solar energy absorber based on tungsten (W) to achieve broadband absorption of solar energy. A four-layer ring-disk structure (SiO2-SiO2-W) is employed in our design. A finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation was used to ascertain the absorption performance of the absorber. The results demonstrate that a broadband solar energy absorption was realized, the bandwidth is of 1530 nm with an absorption efficiency of more than 90%, and an absorption efficiency of 97% was achieved in this region. The absorption spectra can be tuned through changing the structural and geometric parameters. Moreover, the absorber has excellent polarization independence and can be used under incident angles from 0° to 60°. The proposed solar energy absorber is simple to fabricate, and can be used for photothermal conversion, solar energy harvesting and utilization.

and 18.97%, respectively. Moreover, the effect of different illumination angles on the optical absorption of the SCs was explored. The SCs have good absorption when the incident angles are in the range from 0 degrees to 60 degrees. Furthermore, the underlying mechanism for the enhancement of photon absorption in the SCs was discussed through careful analysis of the electric field intensity profile at different wavelengths. It was found that the electric field tends to concentrate around the bottom pyramids and top trapezoidal pyramids even for the long-wave band, which results in an excellent light-trapping performance.

Designing an efficient dual-metal catalyst Fe, Mn–N/C for the ORR, inspired by bio-enzymes.

This Review article provides a report on progress in the synthesis, properties and catalytic applications of noble metal based composite nanomaterials. We begin with a brief discussion on the categories of various composite materials. We then present some important colloidal synthetic approaches to the composite nanostructures; here, major attention has been paid to bimetallic nanoparticles. We also introduce some important physiochemical properties that are beneficial from composite nanomaterials. Finally, we highlight the catalytic applications of such composite nanoparticles and conclude with remarks on prospective future directions.

By means of critical coupling and impedance matching theory, we have numerically simulated the perfect absorption of monolayer graphene. Through the critical coupling effect and impedance matching, we studied a perfect single-band absorption of the monolayer graphene and obtained high quality factor (Q-factor = 664.2) absorption spectrum which has an absorbance close to 100% in the near infrared region. The position of the absorption spectrum can be adjusted by changing the ratio between the radii of the elliptic cylinder air hole and the structural period. The sensitivity of the absorber can be achieved S = 342.7 nm/RIU (RIU is the per refractive index unit) and FOM = 199.2 (FOM is the figure of merit), which has great potential for development on biosensors. We believe that our research will have good application prospects in graphene photonic devices and optoelectronic devices.

Abstract This article introduces a new type of graphene-based perfect absorber that features tunability across four wave peaks and high sensitivity, consisting of Ag–SiO 2 –graphene. By controlling the Fermi level and relaxation time of graphene, the tunability of the absorber is achieved, and by changing the refractive index of SiO 2 , the selectivity of the resonant wavelength is realized. The results show that the absorber has an average absorption rate of 98.54% at four wavelengths: 2092.24 nm, 2180.67 nm, 2230.08 nm, and 2336.17 nm. The electric field distribution intensity is simulated to verify whether it meets the impedance matching theory, exploring the physical mechanism behind the high absorption rates at these four peaks. Different polarizations and inclined incidence angles are investigated to explore the absorber’s insensitivity to polarization, demonstrating excellent insensitivity within an inclination angle range from 0° to 65°. The sensitivities of the four peaks are 501.54 nm RIU −1 , 565.76 nm RIU −1 , 605.47 nm RIU −1 , and 582.70 nm RIU −1 , respectively. Finally, the practical application of the absorber in detecting aqueous solutions of 10%, 20%, 25% glucose solutions, and 30%, 50% sugar solutions is simulated, and the results show that the absorber has good sensing performance. This paper’s absorber features four-peak perfect absorption and excellent tilt insensitivity, good refractive index sensitivity, and holds great potential applications in detectors and optical communication systems.

By integrating the design principles of broadband metamaterial absorbers with woven structures, this study introduces a woven composite metamaterial (WCM) made of resin and AlCuFe quasicrystals, enabling optical materials to operate efficiently across a wide spectral range while withstanding mechanical deformation. This lightweight metamaterial features a unique 3D four-way braided structure combined with Dirac semimetals. Static analysis reveals that AlCuFe quasicrystals significantly enhance mechanical properties, with a Young's modulus reaching 38 GPa in the z direction and 18 GPa in the x and y directions at 40% fiber content and a 30° weaving angle. Frequency domain simulations show a high average absorption rate of 83.4% in the 3–12 μm range, primarily due to internal electromagnetic coupling. The study further reveals that the electromagnetic properties of the WCM are closely related to fiber content and weaving angle. As a lightweight optical material, the WCM shows strong application potential in fields such as aerospace and electromagnetic countermeasures.

This paper introduces a novel metamaterial absorber based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The absorber is capable of triple-mode perfect absorption, polarization independence, incident angle insensitivity, tunability, high sensitivity, and a high figure of merit (FOM). The structure of the absorber consists of a sandwiched stack: a top layer of single-layer graphene array with an open-ended prohibited sign type (OPST) pattern, a middle layer of thicker SiO2, and a bottom layer of the gold metal mirror (Au). The simulation of COMSOL software suggests it achieves perfect absorption at frequencies of fI = 4.04 THz, fII = 6.76 THz, and fIII = 9.40 THz, with absorption peaks of 99.404%, 99.353%, and 99.146%, respectively. These three resonant frequencies and corresponding absorption rates can be regulated by controlling the patterned graphene’s geometric parameters or just adjusting the Fermi level (EF). Additionally, when the incident angle changes between 0~50°, the absorption peaks still reach 99% regardless of the kind of polarization. Finally, to test its refractive index sensing performance, this paper calculates the results of the structure under different environments which demonstrate maximum sensitivities in three modes: SI = 0.875 THz/RIU, SII = 1.250 THz/RIU, and SIII = 2.000 THz/RIU. The FOM can reach FOMI = 3.74 RIU−1, FOMII = 6.08 RIU−1, and FOMIII = 9.58 RIU−1. In conclusion, we provide a new approach for designing a tunable multi-band SPR metamaterial absorber with potential applications in photodetectors, active optoelectronic devices, and chemical sensors.

In the study of modern optics, the work of terahertz metamaterial absorbers is mostly multi-band perfect absorbers and ultra-wideband perfect absorbers. In contrast, in practical applications, metamaterial absorbers with adjustable resonance frequency or amplitude play an essential role in many forms. Here, we firstly designed an ultra-wideband terahertz metamaterial perfect absorber, achieving over 99% perfect absorption in the 6.6-8.9 THz range. Secondly, based on the absorber, phase change material VO2 was added to improve the structure, and three tunable terahertz metamaterial absorbers based on VO2 were designed, respectively realizing broadband movement and conversion between broadband and multi-band. Also, the terahertz absorber with dynamic tuning characteristics can flexibly control the absorption performance, providing an excellent platform for the realization of terahertz filtering, modulation, and so on.

Solar energy is currently a very popular energy source because it is both clean and renewable. As a result, one of the main areas of research now is the investigation of solar absorbers with broad spectrum and high absorption efficiency. In this study, we create an absorber by superimposing three periodic Ti-Al2O3-Ti discs on a W-Ti-Al2O3 composite film structure. We evaluated the incident angle, structural components, and electromagnetic field distribution using the finite difference in time domain (FDTD) method in order to investigate the physical process by which the model achieves broadband absorption. We find that distinct wavelengths of tuned or resonant absorption may be produced by the Ti disk array and Al2O3 through near-field coupling, cavity-mode coupling, and plasmon resonance, all of which can effectively widen the absorption bandwidth. The findings indicate that the solar absorber’s average absorption efficiency can range from 95.8% to 96% over the entire band range of 200 to 3100 nm, with the absorption bandwidth of 2811 nm (244–3055 nm) having the highest absorption rate. Additionally, the absorber only contains tungsten (W), titanium (Ti), and alumina (Al2O3), three materials with high melting points, which offers a strong assurance for the absorber’s thermal stability. It also has a very high thermal radiation intensity, reaching a high radiation efficiency of 94.4% at 1000 K, and a weighted average absorption efficiency of 98.3% at AM1.5. Additionally, the incidence angle insensitivity of our suggested solar absorber is good (0–60°) and polarization independence is good (0–90°). These benefits enable a wide range of solar thermal photovoltaic applications for our absorber and offer numerous design options for the ideal absorber.

Ultra-high sensitivity sensor has significant application for micro-nano optical devices in terahertz. Here, we propose a simple graphene metasurface, which can achieve obvious graphene plasmon-induced transparency (PIT) phenomenon. We can find that PIT, reflectivity, and absorbance can be effectively tuned by the Fermi level. Moreover, the finite-different time-domain (FDTD) numerical results are well agreement with the coupled mode theory (CMT) results. Interestingly, an ultra-high sensitivity sensor performance based on tunable PIT in terahertz bands can be realized in our proposed metasurface, the sensitivity and Figure of merit (FOM) can reach up to 1.7745 THz/RIU and 23.61, respectively. Hence, these results can provide theoretical guidance for terahertz dynamic integrated photonic devices.

When surface plasmon resonance (SPR) occurs, the incident light is absorbed by the surface of the SPR structure, thus minimizing the intensity of the reflected light. Therefore, the SPR method is adopted in this paper to achieve perfect absorption of the absorbent. In this paper, we first propose a multi-frequency broadband absorber structure based on graphene SPR, which uses the continuous resonance of patterned graphene surface plasmon in the frequency spectrum to form a multi-frequency broadband absorption. In this simulation, a sandwich-stack structure was adopted, whereby the patterned graphene is situated on top of the SiO2 layer and the metal layer. The broad-band absorption bands of the absorber were obtained as 4.14–4.38 THz, 5.78–6.36 THz, and 7.87–8.66 THz through the analog simulation of finite-difference time-domain method (FDTD) solutions. Then, based on the multi-layer resonant unit structure, through the superposition and combination of absorbing units responding to different frequency bands, the perfect absorption of ultra-wideband is achieved. The data results illustrate that the total absorption bandwidth of the absorber is 2.26 THz, and the relative absorption bandwidth Bw is equal to 28.93%. The electric field in X-Y direction of the absorber in the perfect absorption band is analyzed, respectively, and the dynamic tunability of the absorber is studied. Finally, we studied whether the absorbing structure still has efficient absorption characteristics for the two polarization modes when the incident angle is changed from 0° to 70°. The structure model proposed has potential value for application in terahertz photoelectric detection, filtering, and electromagnetic shielding.

In this paper, a triple-band perfect metamaterial absorber based on Cu-dielectric-Cu triple-layer nanostructure is reported. The top metal film structure consists of a ring and four pairs of capacitor plates, which has a frequency selection effect, allowing the absorber to resonate in the near infrared range. Theoretical study shows that the absorption of the three absorption peaks (872.54 nm, 1008.69 nm and 1138.62 nm) are 87.1%, 99.9% and 99.6%, respectively. The average absorption is 95.53%, including two perfect absorption peaks. Changing the structural parameters can affect its absorption peaks and resonant wavelengths. At the same time, due to the high symmetry of the absorber, it is not sensitive to the polarization angle and incident angle. Whether in the TE mode or the TM mode, the absorber at a wide incident angle (0-60°) also exhibits good operating angle polarization tolerance. Therefore, the perfect metamaterial absorber we designed can be widely used in sensing.