Design and Analysis of a Vanadium Dioxide-Based Ultra-Broadband Terahertz Metamaterial Absorber

TL;DR

This paper introduces a VO2-based metamaterial absorber for terahertz frequencies that offers ultra-broadband, polarization-insensitive absorption with high efficiency and tunability, suitable for advanced THz applications.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel VO2 metamaterial design achieving broader bandwidth and higher efficiency than existing THz absorbers, with dynamic control enabled by VO2 phase transition.

Findings

Achieves 98.15% average absorption over 5.38 THz bandwidth

Maintains over 99% absorption across 3.35 THz

Stable performance under various polarization angles

Abstract

This paper presents a VO2-based metamaterial absorber optimized for ultra-broadband, polarization-insensitive performance in the terahertz (THz) frequency range. The absorber consists of a patterned VO2 metasurface, a low-loss MF2 dielectric spacer, and a gold ground plane. Exploiting the phase transition of VO2, the design enables dynamic control of electromagnetic absorption. Full-wave simulations show an average absorptance of 98.15% across a 5.38THz bandwidth (5.72-11.11THz) and over 99% absorption sustained across 3.35THz. The absorber maintains stable performance for varying polarization angles and both TE and TM modes under oblique incidence. Impedance analysis confirms strong matching to free space, reducing reflection and eliminating transmission. Parametric analysis investigates the influence of VO2 conductivity, MF2 thickness, and unit cell periodicity on performance. Compared to recent THz metamaterial absorbers, the proposed design achieves broader bandwidth, higher efficiency, and simpler implementation. These characteristics make it suitable for THz sensing, imaging, wireless communication, and adaptive photonic systems, and position it as a promising platform for tunable and reconfigurable THz modules.