Numerical Investigation of Graphene and STO Based Tunable Terahertz Absorber with Switchable Bifunctionality of Broadband and Narrowband Absorption

A graphene metamaterial and strontium titanate (STO)-based terahertz absorber with tunable and switchable bifunctionality has been numerically investigated in this work. Through electrically tuning the Fermi energy level of the cross-shaped graphene, the bandwidth of the proposed absorber varies continuously from 0.12 THz to 0.38 THz with the absorptance exceeding 90%, which indicates the functionality of broadband absorption. When the Fermi energy level of the cross-shaped graphene is 0 eV, the proposed absorber exhibits the other functionality of narrowband absorption owing to the thermal control of the relative permittivity of STO, and the rate of change of the center frequency is 50% ranging from 0.56 THz to 0.84 THz. The peak intensity of the narrowband absorption approximates to nearly 100% through adjusting the Fermi energy level of the graphene strips. The calculated results indicate that it is not sensitive to the polarization for wide incidence angles. The proposed absorber can realize tunable bifunctionality of broadband absorption with a tunable bandwidth and narrowband absorption with a tunable center frequency, which provides an alternative design opinion of the tunable terahertz devices with high performance for high-density integrated systems.

Automated summary

This study presents a graphene metamaterial and STO-based terahertz absorber with tunable and switchable bifunctionality, allowing for broadband absorption and narrowband absorption functionalities with high absorption rates and performance.