A metamaterial absorber for the terahertz regime: design, fabrication and characterization.

We present a metamaterial that acts as a strongly resonant absorber at terahertz frequencies. Our design consists of a bilayer unit cell which allows for maximization of the absorption through independent tuning of the electrical permittivity and magnetic permeability. An experimental absorptivity of 70% at 1.3 terahertz is demonstrated. We utilize only a single unit cell in the propagation direction, thus achieving an absorption coefficient alpha = 2000 cm(-1). These metamaterials are promising candidates as absorbing elements for thermally based THz imaging, due to their relatively low volume, low density, and narrow band response.

Duke Scholars

Author Willie John Padilla Electrical and Computer Engineering