Metasurfaces and Metamaterials for Terahertz, Infrared and Solar Absorption
This community designs sub-wavelength structures to absorb, generate, and manipulate electromagnetic waves, primarily in the terahertz and mid-infrared bands, with a significant focus on broadband solar energy harvesting.
The work centers on engineering "metasurfaces" and "metamaterials" to achieve perfect, broadband, or tunable absorption. Recurring materials include vanadium dioxide for phase-change tunability, graphene for plasmonic effects, and titanium nitride for stable solar absorption. Key applications named in the titles include terahertz sensing, polarization conversion, and solar energy harvesting. The research frequently employs "bound states in the continuum" and "surface plasmon resonance" to enhance light-matter interaction. Methods involve inverse design and the integration of dielectric and metallic components to create devices that are optically transparent in some bands while absorbing strongly in others.
The largest share of the community's output is found in vanadium research, accounting for 1.4% of all vanadium research, and 1,507 papers here. Gallium and indium also represent significant portions, with shares of 1.3% each.
The community comprises 24,166 papers, publishing most frequently in Optics Express, Applied Physics Letters, and Optics & Laser Technology.
Recent work continues to focus on temperature-switchable terahertz absorbers using vanadium dioxide, broadband solar absorbers based on titanium nitride and indium arsenide, and tunable graphene-based devices for sensing and absorption.