Ultrathin planar broadband absorber through effective medium design

Ultrathin planar absorbers hold promise in solar energy systems because they can reduce the material,fabrication,and system cost.Here,we present a general strategy of effective medium design to realize ultrathin planar broadband absorbers.The absorber consists of two ultrathin absorbing dielectrics to designan effective absorbing medium,a transparent layer,and metallic substrate.Compared with previous studies,this strategy provides another dimension of freedom to enhance optical absorption;therefore,destructive interference can be realized over a broad spectrum.To demonstrate the power and simplicity of this strategy,we both experimentally and theoretically characterized an absorber with 5-nm-thick Ge,10-nm-thick Ti,and 50-nm-thick SiO2 films coated on an Ag substrate fabricated using simple deposition methods.Absorptivity higher than 80％ was achieved in 15-nm-thick (1/50 of the center wavelength) Ge and Ti films from 400 nm to near 1 μm.As an application example,we experimentally demonstrated that the absorber exhibited a normal solar absorptivity of 0.8 with a normal emittance of 0.1 at 500 ℃,thus demonstrating its potential in solar thermal systems.The effective medium design strategy is general and allows material versatility,suggesting possible applications in real-time optical manipulation using dynamic materials.     

泪滴状铝纳米结构紫外-近红外宽带吸收体的制备

宽波段光吸收体在太阳能利用、光探测等领域具有重要的应用价值.本研究以带铝基的多孔氧化铝(AAO)膜为模板,采用真空电子束蒸镀技术,结合后续的高温退火、湿化学刻蚀和胶带剥离等处理过程,制备出了泪滴状铝纳米结构宽带吸收体,其吸收率在200～980 nm的波长范围内均高于93％,在紫外光谱区的吸收带宽大于文献中报道的单一金属...     

Solar Cell light trapping beyond the ray optic limit

In 1982, Yablonovitch proposed a thermodynamic limit on light trapping within homogeneous semiconductor slabs, which implied a minimum thickness needed to fully absorb the solar spectrum. However, this limit is valid for geometrical optics but not for a new generation of subwavelength solar absorbers such as ultrathin or inhomogeneously structured cells, wire-based cells, photonic crystal-based cells, and plasmonic cells. Here we show that the key to exceeding the conventional ray optic or so-called ergodic light trapping limit is in designing an elevated local density of optical states (LDOS) for the absorber. Moreover, for any semiconductor we show that it is always possible to exceed the ray optic light trapping limit and use these principles to design a number of new solar absorbers with the key feature of having an elevated LDOS within the absorbing region of the device, opening new avenues for solar cell design and cost reduction.     

Film Flip and Transfer Process to Enhance Light Harvesting in Ultrathin Absorber Films on Specular Back‐Reflectors

Optical interference is used to enhance light–matter interaction and harvest broadband light in ultrathin semiconductor absorber films on specular back‐reflectors. However, the high‐temperature processing in oxygen atmosphere required for oxide absorbers often degrades metallic back‐reflectors and their specular reflectance. In order to overcome this problem, a newly developed film flip and transfer process is presented that enables high‐temperature processing without degradation of the metallic back‐reflector and without the need of passivation interlayers. The film flip and transfer process improves the performance of photoanodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting comprising ultrathin (<20 nm) hematite (α‐Fe₂O₃) films on silver–gold alloy (90 at% Ag–10 at% Au) back‐reflectors. Specular back‐reflectors are obtained with high reflectance below hematite films, which is necessary for maximizing the productive light absorption in the hematite film and minimizing nonproductive absorption in the back‐reflector. Furthermore, the film flip and transfer process opens up a new route to attach thin film stacks onto a wide range of substrates including flexible or temperature sensitive materials.     

不同电磁特性吸收剂的多层宽带吸波材料设计

简单有效的材料设计方法是最大程度发挥吸收剂吸波性能的关键.本研究提出了一种将匹配频率分别位于高、中、低频的三种高性能磁性吸波材料进行梯度叠层的设计方法.研究结果表明:利用此设计原理对球形羰基铁粉、片状羰基铁粉和片状FeSiAl合金三种吸收剂进行精确的阻抗渐变设计,充分发挥它们分别对高、中、低频电磁波的高效吸收,从而有效...     

Flexible ultrathin metamaterial absorber for wide frequency band,based on conductive fibers

Flexible and ultrathin wide-band metamaterial absorbers are suggested and demonstrated in the microwave-frequency range. By using resonators of different sizes and conductive fibers on metallic-pattern layer, the total thickness of metamaterial absorber is reduced to be only 1/349 with respect to the operating wavelength at 0.97 GHz. We present the absorption mechanism in terms of the impedance matching with the free space, the distributions of surface current and the three-dimensional distributions for power loss. In simulation, the absorption was over 97% at 0.97–6.12 GHz, and the corresponding experimental absorption band over 97% was 0.87–6.11 GHz. Furthermore, the dielectric substrate of metamaterial absorbers was replaced with flexible substrate in order to have the flexibility and the broadband absorption properties. The absorption band is expanded and the high-absorption performance maintains at the same time. The total thickness of metamaterial absorber comes to be only 1/5194 of the operating wavelength at 0.75 GHz. Our work is expected to contribute to the flexible microwave/electronic devices in the near future.     

Performance study of a falling-film absorber with a film-inverting configuration

This paper describes the development of a novel film-inverting design concept for falling-film absorbers. The solid surface of the absorber is segmented so that both surfaces of the falling-film are alternatively cooled in a periodic manner. A conventional tubular absorber is modified by introducing film-guiding fins between tubes to produce a film-inverting arrangement. A maximum increase in vapour absorption rate of about 100% is obtained with the film-inverting design compared to the tubular absorber. The numerical simulation indicates that the vapour absorption rate can be increased by using a large number of film-inverting segments in the absorber.     

A polarization-independent and broadband microwave metamaterial absorber based on three-dimensional structure

In this paper, we design a polarization-independent and broadband microwave metamaterial absorber (MMA) based on three-dimensional structure. The simulated results show that the proposed absorber has a broad absorptance band from 60.4 to 100.0 GHz with the absorptance efficiency over 90%. The effective medium theory (EMT), electric field, surface current and power loss density distributions are adopted to explain the physical mechanism of the perfect absorptance. In addition, the absorptance differences can be observed between transverse electric (TE) wave and transverse magnetic (TM) wave at oblique incidence. The proposed absorber can be utilized in many applications such as perfect absorbers and radomes.     

变截面背腔结构的微穿孔板吸声器的设计与研究

如何实现微穿孔板吸声结构的宽频吸声是近年来的研究热点之一。针对微穿孔板吸声结构的宽频吸声问题,本文设计了一种不规则背腔结构,并将其应用到单层和双层微穿孔板的吸声器上,对其吸声性能进行了研究。利用声电类比模型获得吸声器各部分的阻抗关系,然后通过理论计算得到吸声结构的阻抗和吸声系数。理论、仿真和实验结果表明：在不增加结构厚度的情况下,通过内层变截面隔板对背腔进行不等体积分割,可拓宽微穿孔板吸声带宽,且结构相对简单。该研究为微穿孔板吸声器的宽带低频吸声及其应用提供了新的设计思路。     

Nonimaging secondary concentrators for large rim angle parabolic troughs with tubular absorbers

For parabolic trough solar collectors with tubular absorbers, we design new tailored secondary concentrators. The design is applicable for any rim angle of a parabolic reflector. With the secondary, the concentration can be increased by a factor of more than 2 with a compact secondary reflector consisting of a single piece, even for the important case of a rim angle of 90 deg. The parabolic reflector can be used without changes; the reduced absorber is still tubular but smaller than the original absorber and slightly displaced toward the primary.     

Photonic Metamaterial Absorbers: Morphology Engineering and Interdisciplinary Applications

Recent advances in nanofabrication technologies have spurred many breakthroughs in the field of photonic metamaterials that provide efficient ways of manipulating light–matter interaction at subwavelength scales. As one of the most important applications, photonic metamaterials can be used to implement novel optical absorbers. First the morphology engineering of various photonic metamaterial absorbers is discussed, which is highly associated with impendence matching conditions and resonance modes of the absorbers, thus directly determines their absorption efficiency, operational bandwidth, incident angle, and polarization dependence. Then, the recent achievements of various interdisciplinary applications based on photonic metamaterial absorbers, including structural color generation, ultrasensitive optical sensing, solar steam generation, and highly responsive photodetection, are reviewed. This report is expected to provide an overview and vision for the future development of photonic metamaterial absorbers and their applications in novel nanophotonic systems.     

Solution‐Processed All‐Ceramic Plasmonic Metamaterials for Efficient Solar–Thermal Conversion over 100–727 °C

Low‐cost and large‐area solar–thermal absorbers with superior spectral selectivity and excellent thermal stability are vital for efficient and large‐scale solar–thermal conversion applications, such as space heating, desalination, ice mitigation, photothermal catalysis, and concentrating solar power. Few state‐of‐the‐art selective absorbers are qualified for both low‐ ( < 200  ° C) and high‐temperature ( > 600  ° C) applications due to insufficient spectral selectivity or thermal stability over a wide temperature range. Here, a high‐performance plasmonic metamaterial selective absorber is developed by facile solution‐based processes via assembling an ultrathin ( ≈ 120 nm) titanium nitride (TiN) nanoparticle film on a TiN mirror. Enabled by the synergetic in‐plane plasmon and out‐of‐plane Fabry–Pérot resonances, the all‐ceramic plasmonic metamaterial simultaneously achieves high, full‐spectrum solar absorption (95%), low mid‐IR emission (3% at 100  ° C), and excellent stability over a temperature range of 100–727  ° C, even outperforming most vacuum‐deposited absorbers at their specific operating temperatures. The competitive performance of the solution‐processed absorber is accompanied by a significant cost reduction compared with vacuum‐deposited absorbers. All these merits render it a cost‐effective, universal solution to offering high efficiency (89–93%) for both low‐ and high‐temperature solar–thermal applications.     

Photo-excited broadband tunable terahertz metamaterial absorber

We demonstrate a photo-excited broadband tunable metamaterial absorber for use in the terahertz region. The metamaterial absorber consists of a hybrid metal-semiconductor square split ring and a metallic ground plane that are separated by a dielectric resonator spacer. The conductivity of the silicon used to fill the gap in the metallic resonator is tuned actively as a function of the incident pump power, which results in frequency modulation of the resonance absorption peak. Broadband tunable metamaterial absorbers are produced by suitable placement of the photoconductive silicon in different critical regions of the metallic resonator. In addition, the proposed method is applicable to a concentric rings-based metallic resonator. The proposed photo-excited broadband tunable metamaterial absorber has numerous potential applications, including uses as terahertz modulators and switches.     

Angular solar absorptance of absorbers used in solar thermal collectors

The optical characterization of solar absorbers for thermal solar collectors is usually performed by measurement of the spectral reflectance at near-normal angle of incidence and calculation of the solar absorptance from the measured reflectance. The solar absorptance is, however, a function of the angle of incidence of the light impinging on the absorber. The total reflectance of two types of commercial solar-selective absorbers, nickel-pigmented anodized aluminum, and sputtered nickel nickel oxide coated aluminum are measured at angles of incidence from 5 to 80 in the wavelength range 300 2500 nm by use of an integrating sphere. From these measurements the angular integrated solar absorptance is determined. Experimental data are compared with theoretical calculations, and it is found that optical thin-film interference effects can explain the significant difference in solar absorptance at higher angles for the two types of absorbers.     

Optimization of Perfect Absorbers with Multilayer Structures

We study wide-angle and broadband perfect absorbers with compact multilayer structures made of a sequence of ITO and TiN layers deposited onto a silver thick layer. An optimization procedure is introduced for searching the optimal thicknesses of the layers so as to design a perfect broadband absorber from 400 nm to 750 nm, for a wide range of angles of incidence from \(0{^{\circ }}\) to \(50{^{\circ }}\), for both polarizations and with a low emissivity in the mid-infrared. We eventually compare the performances of several optimal structures that can be very promising for solar thermal energy harvesting and collectors.     

垂直管吸收器内泡式吸收过程的数值研究

建立垂直管吸收器管内泡式吸收过程中传热传质的数学物理模型，对其泡式吸收过程进行数值研究，获得泡式吸收方式的一些传热传质特性，为吸收器的优化设计提供一定理论指导。     

城轨车辆车体多重动力吸振器减振方法研究

为了让动力吸振器在降低轨道车辆车体振动的同时能够更好的适应车下剩余空间,根据多重动力吸振器原理,针对城轨车辆运行的特点,建立了包含多重动力吸振器的轨道车辆垂向振动模型,提出了适用于城市轨道车辆车体多重动力吸振器的设计方法。①讨论了载客量和速度变化对多重动力吸振器的减振性能的影响,指出了传统多重动力吸振器的局限性;②针对轨道车辆振动频率变化频繁的特点,提出了多重动力吸振器的目标频率的优化方法,从而避免了增振的情况出现;③以四条典型城市轨道线路为算例,利用DVA减振指标进行评价,分别获得了不同线路的车体多重动力吸振器的最优目标频率,并验证了该优化方法的有效性。研究结果表明:相同附加质量下,多重动力吸振器对车体的吸振能力要优于单个动力吸振器,考虑到实际的应用,在车体安装四重动力吸振器是较为适宜的选择;经过优化的多重动力吸振器在整个速度区间都能起到很好的减振效果,能够有效避免增振现象的发生;多重动力吸振器的目标频率的设计要针对不同的线路进行调整,特定线路需要特定设计才能发挥出最佳减振能力。该研究的工作为车体多重动力吸振器的研究和应用提供了参考依据。     

A Broadband Microwave Metamaterial Absorber with Octave Bandwidth

In this paper, a broadband metamaterial absorber has been presented for practical applications. The unit cell of the proposed structure comprises metallic patch of single circular split-ring imprinted on top surface of a metal-backed dielectric substrate. The geometrical dimensions of the structure have been optimized in such a way that the structure exhibits broadband absorptivity response of 9.12 GHz from 6.70 to 15.82 GHz with more than 90 % absorptivity. Three distinct absorption peaks are observed at 7.16, 10.74 and 14.96 GHz. The absorption phenomena at these three frequencies have been analyzed and the roles of several geometrical parameters involved in the design are investigated. The proposed structure has been studied under oblique incidence, both for TE and TM polarizations where it shows wideband absorption characteristics up to 30° incident angle for TE polarization and 45° incident angle for TM polarization. The proposed structure is very thin (~λ/8.4 with respect to the centre frequency of absorption bandwidth) compared to the commercially available microwave absorbers.     

Multi-Scale Design of Ultra-Broadband Microwave Metamaterial Absorber Based on Hollow Carbon/MXene/Mo2C Microtube

Developing various nanocomposite microwave absorbers is a crucial means to address the issue of electromagnetic pollution, but remains a challenge in satisfying broadband absorption at low thickness with dielectric loss materials. Herein, an ultra-broadband microwave metamaterial absorber (MMA) based on hollow carbon/MXene/Mo₂C (HCMM) is fabricated by a multi-scale design strategy. The microscopic 1D hierarchical microtube structure of HCMM contributes to break through the limit of thickness, exhibiting a strong reflection loss of -66.30 dB (99.99997 wave absorption) at the thinnest matching thickness of 1.0 mm. Meanwhile, the strongest reflection loss of -87.28 dB is reached at 1.4 mm, superior to most MXene-based and Mo₂C-based microwave absorbers. Then, the macroscopic 3D structural metasurface based on the HCMM is simulated, optimized, and finally manufactured. The as-prepared flexible HCMM-based MMA realizes an ultra-broadband effective absorption in the range of 3.7-40.0 GHz at a thickness of 5.0 mm, revealing its potential for practical application in the electromagnetic compatibility field.     

Ultra-thin metamaterial absorber with extremely bandwidth for solar cell and sensing applications in visible region

In this paper, we proposed a broadband and ultra-thin metamaterial absorber in the visible region. The absorber is composed of three layers, and the most remarkable difference is that the split ring resonators (SRR) made of metal stannum are encrusted in the indium antimonide (InSb) plane on the top layer. Numerical results reveal that a broadband absorption spectrum above 90% can be realized from 353.9 THz to 613.2 THz due to the coupling effect between the material of stannum and InSb. The metamaterial absorber is ultra-thin, having the total thickness of 56 nm, i.e. less than λ/10 with respect to the center frequency of the absorption band more than 90%. In addition, the impedance matching theory, surface current distributions, E-field and H-field are investigated to explain the physical mechanism of the absorption. The sensing applications are discussed and the simulated results show that the proposed absorber operates well with a good efficiency. Moreover, the visible absorber has potential applications in the aspects of solar energy harvest, integrated photodetectors and so on.