Simple and Cost-Effective Design of a THz-Metamaterial-Based Hybrid Sensor on a Single Substrate

Area of Science:

• Terahertz (THz) technology
• Metamaterial science
• Nanophotonics

Background:

• Metamaterial absorbers are crucial for various applications, including sensing and energy harvesting.
• Developing cost-effective and tunable absorbers remains a key challenge in THz technology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and simulate a cost-effective Hybrid Metamaterial Absorber (HMA) with temperature-tunable properties.
• To investigate the refractive index sensitivity of the proposed HMA for sensing applications.

Main Methods:

• Numerical simulations were employed to design and analyze a circular-patterned cylindrical HMA.
• The HMA consists of an indium antimonide (InSb) resonator on a copper sheet.
• Parametric analyses were performed to tune absorption characteristics.

Main Results:

• A peak absorption of 99.94% was achieved at 1.797 THz at 300 K.
• The HMA demonstrated efficient operation over a 40 K temperature range and a refractive index range of 1.00-1.05.
• High temperature sensing sensitivity (13.07 GHz/K) and refractive index sensitivity (1146 GHz/RIU) were simulated.

Conclusions:

• The proposed HMA exhibits significant temperature-tunability and high refractive index sensitivity.
• The design shows potential for applications in thermal imaging, bio-sensing, semiconductor fabrication, and energy harvesting.
• The cost-effective design and high performance make it a promising candidate for future sensing technologies.