Design Of Tunable Metamaterials Research Articles

Multifunctionality in vanadium dioxide-integrated metamaterials for switching between dual-band perfect absorption and asymmetric transmission

In this work, we present a theoretical proposal for an actively tunable metamaterial design that integrates vanadium dioxide (VO2). This VO2-integrated design demonstrates the ability to switch between dual-band perfect absorption and asymmetric transmission (AT) functionalities in the near-infrared and mid-infrared spectral ranges. By utilizing the unique properties of VO2, our proposed device achieves broadband absorption across approximately 2.47 μm with polarization independence when VO2 is in its metallic state. Furthermore, it exhibits narrowband absorption with polarization correlation, reaching a linear dichroism value of approximately 0.704. On the other hand, when VO2 is in its insulating state, the metamaterial structure realizes AT of 0.418 for circularly polarized light. We provide physical insight into the operating mechanisms through impedance matching analysis and electric field distributions. The integration of VO2 in this dynamically tunable, multifunctional metamaterial design offers a novel approach to developing reconfigurable nanophotonic and nanosystem technologies.

Numerical investigation of band gaps in 3D printed cantilever-in-mass metamaterials.

In this research, the negative effective mass behavior of elastic/mechanical metamaterials is exhibited by a cantilever-in-mass structure as a proposed design for creating frequency stopping band gaps, based on local resonance of the internal structure. The mass-in-mass unit cell model is transformed into a cantilever-in-mass model using the Bernoulli-Euler beam theory. An analytical model of the cantilever-in-mass structure is derived and the effects of geometrical dimensions and material parameters to create frequency band gaps are examined. A two-dimensional finite element model is created to validate the analytical results, and excellent agreement is achieved. The analytical model establishes an easily tunable metamaterial design to realize wave attenuation based on locally resonant frequency. To demonstrate feasibility for 3D printing, the analytical model is employed to design and fabricate 3D printable mechanical metamaterial. A three-dimensional numerical experiment is performed using COMSOL Multiphysics to validate the wave attenuation performance. Results show that the cantilever-in-mass metamaterial is capable of mitigating stress waves at the desired resonance frequency. Our study successfully presents the use of one constituent material to create a 3D printed cantilever-in-mass metamaterial with negative effective mass density for stress wave mitigation purposes.

Electrothermally actuated microelectromechanical systems based omega-ring terahertz metamaterial with polarization dependent characteristics

We present the design, simulation, fabrication, and characterization of a continuously tunable Omega-ring terahertz metamaterial. The tunability of metamaterial is obtained by integrating microactuators into the metamaterial unit cell. Electrothermal actuation mechanism is used to provide higher tuning range, larger stroke, and enhanced repeatability. The maximum achieved tuning range for the resonant frequency is around 0.30 THz for the input power of 500 mW. This shows the potential of using electrothermally actuated microactuators based tunable metamaterial design for application such as filters, absorbers, sensors, and spectral imagers.

Multiple scales analysis of wave–wave interactions in a cubically nonlinear monoatomic chain

The interaction of waves in nonlinear media is of practical interest in the design of acoustic devices such as waveguides and filters. This investigation of the monoatomic mass–spring chain with a cubic nonlinearity demonstrates that the interaction of two waves results in different amplitude and frequency dependent dispersion branches for each wave, as opposed to a single amplitude-dependent branch when only a single wave is present. A theoretical development utilizing multiple time scales results in a set of evolution equations which are validated by numerical simulation. For the specific case where the wavenumber and frequency ratios are both close to 1:3 as in the long wavelength limit, the evolution equations suggest that small amplitude and frequency modulations may be present. Predictable dispersion behavior for weakly nonlinear materials provides additional latitude in tunable metamaterial design. The general results developed herein may be extended to three or more wave–wave interaction problems.