Ultrathin flexible dual band terahertz absorber

Abstract

We propose an ultrathin and flexible dual band absorber operated at terahertz frequencies based on metamaterial. The metamaterial structure consists of periodical split ring resonators with two asymmetric gaps and a metallic ground plane, separated by a thin-flexible dielectric spacer. Particularly, the dielectric spacer is a free-standing polyimide film with thickness of 25µm, resulting in highly flexible for our absorber and making it promising for non-planar applications such as micro-bolometers and stealth aircraft. Experimental results show that the absorber has two resonant absorption frequencies (0.41THz and 0.75THz) with absorption rates 92.2% and 97.4%, respectively. The resonances at the absorption frequencies come from normal dipole resonance and high-order dipole resonance which is inaccessible in the symmetrical structure. Multiple reflection interference theory is used to analyze the mechanism of the absorber and the results are in good agreement with simulated and experimental results. Furthermore, the absorption properties are studied under various spacer thicknesses. This kind of metamaterial absorber is insensitive to polarization, has high absorption rates (over 90%) with wide incident angles range from 0° to 45° and the absorption rates are also above 90% when wrapping it to a curved surface.