Dongju Lee

Incident Angle- and Polarization-Insensitive Metamaterial Absorber using Circular Sectors.

In this paper, an incident angle- and polarization-insensitive metamaterial absorber is proposed for X-band applications. A unit cell of the proposed absorber has a square patch at the centre and four circular sectors are rotated around the square patch. The vertically and horizontally symmetric structure of the unit cell enables polarization-insensitivity. The circular sector of the unit cell enables an angle-insensitivity. The performances of the proposed absorber are demonstrated with a full-wave simulation and measurements. The angular sensitivity is studied at different inner angles of the circular sector. When the inner angle of the circular sector is 90°, the simulated absorptivity is higher than 90%, and the frequency variation is less than 0.96% for incident angles up to 70°. The measured absorptivity at 10.44 GHz is close to 100% for all the polarization angles under normal incidence. When the incident angles are varied from 0°– 60°, the measured absorptivity is maintained above 90% for both the transverse electric (TE) and the transverse magnetic (TM) modes.

Wideband-Switchable Metamaterial Absorber Using Injected Liquid Metal

Metamaterial absorbers can provide good solutions for radar-cross-section (RCS) reduction. In spite of their attractive features of thinness, lightness, and low cost, resonant metamaterial absorbers have a drawback of narrow bandwidth. For practical radar applications, wideband absorbers are necessary. In this paper, we propose a wideband-switchable metamaterial absorber using liquid metal. In order to reduce RCS both for X-band and C-band, the switchable Jerusalem cross (JC) resonator is introduced. The JC resonator consists of slotted circular rings, chip resistors, and microfluidic channels. The JC resonator is etched on a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB), and the microfluidic channels are laser-etched on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) material. The proposed absorber can switch the absorption frequency band by injecting a liquid metal alloy into the channels. The performance of the absorber was demonstrated through full-wave simulation and through measurements employing prototypes. The experimental results showed absorption ratios of over 90% from 7.43 GHz to 14.34 GHz, and from 5.62 GHz to 7.3 GHz, with empty channels and liquid metal-filled channels, respectively. Therefore, the absorption band was successfully switched between the C-band (4–8 GHz) and the X-band (8–12 GHz) by injecting liquid metal eutectic gallium indium alloy (EGaIn) into the channels.

A Fluidically Tunable Metasurface Absorber for Flexible Large-Scale Wireless Ethanol Sensor Applications

In this paper, a novel flexible tunable metasurface absorber is proposed for large-scale remote ethanol sensor applications. The proposed metasurface absorber consists of periodic split-ring-cross resonators (SRCRs) and microfluidic channels. The SRCR patterns are inkjet-printed on paper using silver nanoparticle inks. The microfluidic channels are laser-etched on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) material. The proposed absorber can detect changes in the effective permittivity for different liquids. Therefore, the absorber can be used for a remote chemical sensor by detecting changes in the resonant frequencies. The performance of the proposed absorber is demonstrated with full-wave simulation and measurement results. The experimental results show the resonant frequency increases from 8.9 GHz to 10.04 GHz when the concentration of ethanol is changed from 0% to 100%. In addition, the proposed absorber shows linear frequency shift from 20% to 80% of the different concentrations of ethanol.

Angle- and Polarization-Insensitive Metamaterial Absorber using Via Array

In this paper, we propose an angle- and polarization-insensitive metamaterial absorber. We design a metamaterial unit cell that is based on a split ring cross resonator (SRCR). We observe that the absorption frequency and absorption ratio are insensitive to incident angles when a via array surrounds the SRR. We demonstrate the effect of the via array using full-wave simulations by comparing the absorptivity of the SRCR with and without the via array. Because of the symmetric geometry, we also realize polarization insensitivity. We build the proposed absorber on a printed-circuit-board with 30 × 30 unit cells, and we demonstrate its performance experimentally in free space. Under normal incidence, the fabricated absorber shows 99.6% absorptivity at 11.3 GHz for all polarization angles, while for oblique incidence, the fabricated absorber maintains an absorptivity higher than 90% for incident angles up to 70° and 60° for transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) modes, respectively.

Frequency-tunable metamaterial absorber using a varactor-loaded fishnet-like resonator

A frequency-tunable metamaterial absorber is designed with the unit cell consisting of a varactor-loaded fishnet-like resonator. This geometry allows all cathode and anode pads of the unit cells to be connected to their counterparts. Hence, only the ends of the periodic structure need to be biased, reducing the complexity of the bias network. The absorber was modeled using a full-wave simulation tool and verified experimentally with a 20×20 unit-cell prototype. Using free-space measurements, the absorber shows >90% absorption ratio from 3.96 to 5.29 GHz with a frequency tuning ratio of 28.7%, when the reverse voltage varied from 0 to 19 V.

Stretchable Metamaterial Absorber Using Liquid Metal-Filled Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).

A stretchable metamaterial absorber is proposed in this study. The stretchability was achieved by liquid metal and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). To inject liquid metal, microfluidic channels were fabricated using PDMS powers and microfluidic-channel frames, which were built using a three-dimensional printer. A top conductive pattern and ground plane were designed after considering the easy injection of liquid metal. The proposed metamaterial absorber comprises three layers of PDMS substrate. The top layer is for the top conductive pattern, and the bottom layer is for the meandered ground plane. Flat PDMS layers were inserted between the top and bottom PDMS layers. The measured absorptivity of the fabricated absorber was 97.8% at 18.5 GHz, and the absorption frequency increased from 18.5 to 18.65 GHz as the absorber was stretched from its original length (5.2 cm) to 6.4 cm.

Electronically Switchable Broadband Metamaterial Absorber

In this study, the novel electronically switchable broadband metamaterial absorber, using a PIN diode, is proposed. The unit cell of the absorber was designed with a Jerusalem-cross resonator and an additive ring structure, based on the FR-4 dielectric substrate. Chip resistors and PIN diodes were used to provide both a broadband characteristic and a switching capability. To satisfy the polarization insensitivity, the unit cell was designed as a symmetrical structure, including the DC bias network, electronic devices, and conductor patterns. The performance of the proposed absorber was verified using full-wave simulation and measurements. When the PIN diode was in the ON state, the proposed absorber had a 90% absorption bandwidth from 8.45–9.3 GHz. Moreover, when the PIN diode was in the OFF state, the 90% absorption bandwidth was 9.2–10.45 GHz. Therefore, the absorption band was successfully switched between the low-frequency band and the high-frequency band as the PIN diode was switched between the ON and OFF states. Furthermore, the unit cell of the proposed absorber was designed as a symmetrical structure, and its performance showed insensitivity with respect to the polarization angle.

Metamaterial Based Absorber for Wearable Applications

본 논문에서는 스크린 인쇄 방식으로 제작된 의복용 메타물질 흡수체를 제안한다. 제안된 흡수체의 단위구조의 도체 패턴 모양은 의류 브랜드인 샤넬 로고를 차용하였으며, FEM 방식의 시뮬레이션 툴을 사용하여 성능을 검증하였다. 또한, 성능을 검증하기 위해 일반적인 직물 원단 위에 전도성 잉크를 스크린 프린팅 방식으로 인쇄하여 시제품을 제작한 뒤, 벡터 회로망 분석기와 두 개의 도파관을 이용하여 반사계수를 측정하였다. 그 결과, 제안된 흡수체는 10.8 ㎓에서 약 93 %에 가까운 흡수율을 갖는 것을 확인하였다.

Optimal parameter retrieval for metamaterial absorbers using the least-square method for wide incidence angle insensitivity

In this paper, we propose a specific algorithm based on the least-square method to predict the incidence angle insensitivity of a metamaterial absorber. The proposed algorithm was analyzed on a metamaterial absorber design with circular sectors on the top layer and a full copper cover on the bottom layer. We retrieved the parameters of inductance, capacitance, and conductance from the equivalent circuit of the metamaterial absorber at different incidence angles of 0°, 30°, 65°, and 70° under both transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarization. The complex impedances calculated from the optimal parameter retrieval are compared with the complex impedances from full-wave simulation at each incidence angle. The calculated and simulated results show excellent agreement, and the proposed algorithm can be used to design angle-insensitive metamaterial absorbers.