3.1. Performance of the Multifunctional (SFL) Metasurface as a Polarization Conversion
The efficacy of the proposed Snowflake (SFL) shaped metasurfaces can be evaluated through the utilization of a comprehensive full-wave simulation tool, such as CST MW Studio. The unit cell exhibits periodic boundary conditions along the x and y axes, with an open boundary introduced along the z direction to facilitate wave propagation along the z-axis. This arrangement allows for incident terahertz waves with different polarizations in the frequency range of 0.01 THz to 0.4 THz.
In accordance with the principles of polarization, the Jones matrix can be used for corelating incident polarized waves with their reflected counterparts [
33]. The relation is expressed as in equation (2).
Herein, R signifies the Cartesian Jones reflection matrix. It operates in collaboration with the incident electric field
and reflected electric field
, aligned in
directions. The reflection matrix for circularly polarizations is attained by employing the linear polarized reflection coefficient subsequent to the conversion form Cartesian to circular base.
Herein,
denotes the coordinate transformation matrix is utilized for conversion from Cartesian to circular base, defined as
. Here, in equation (3) the sign ‘+’ and ‘-’ indicates the right-handed and left-handed circularly polarized waves, respectively. The unit cell reflection coefficients for normal
and
incidences or RCP and LCP polarized waves are depicted in
Figure 2, where (
,
,
represent the reflection coefficients for co and cross-polarized waves, respectively.
When the conductivity of
is
, the proposed structure act as a multiband polarization conversion for both LP and CP incident waves. In
Figure 2 (a) and 2(b), when the incident wave is LP and CP, the cross-polarized reflection coefficient (
,
,,
) is notably observed to attain a value of 100% at 0.11THz and 0.26 THz, also achieved more than 50% values in bandwidth (0.10 THz – 0.15 THz) and (0.22 THz – 0.30 THz), while co-polarization reflection coefficient reaches (
,
,,
) to 0.1 at frequency 0.11 THz and 0 at 0.26 THz. Hence, the envisioned metasurface configuration adeptly transforms linear and circular polarizations into their corresponding cross-polarizations across multiple bands. Despite the absence of C4 symmetry within the structure configuration, a salient feature lies in its inherent and display mirror symmetry along u-axis, resulting in the equivalence of
,
,
and
.
The analysis of the proposed metasurface, cross-polarized conversion (CPC) is further elucidated through the calculation of the polarization conversion ratio (PCR), as defined by equation (4).
Figure 2c,d illustrated the PCR associated with LP and CP, respectively. notably within the frequency range of (0.1 THz – 0.4 THz), the PCR attains 100% efficiency within specific frequency, namely, 0.11 THz and 0.26 THz and more than 90% at frequency intervals (0.1 THz – 0.12THz) and (0.261 THz – 0.276 THz). The polarization conversion ratio is same for both LP and CP incident waves due to unique structure design of unit cell.
In practical applications, the assessment of metasurface performance often necessitates consideration of wide-angle incidence scenarios.
Figure 3 depicts the influence of incident LP and CP light at various angles of incidence and azimuth on the polarization conversion effect within metasurface structures.
Figure 3a illustrates the consistent Polarization Conversion Ratio (PCR) within an incidence angle range of 0° to 85°. Additionally,
Figure 3b provides an examination of diverse azimuthal incidences on PCR, indicating a stable PCR bandwidth within an azimuthal angle range of 0° to 90°. This observed angular stability is ascribed to the diminutive dielectric thickness and unit cell size. Considering the potential for incoming waves to exhibit arbitrary incidence angles in practical scenarios, the metasurface's insensitivity to azimuth and incidence angles renders it a promising candidate for a variety of applications.
Further, the physical mechanism is essential to analyzing the performance of the polarization conversion of the proposed metasurface. Therefore, considering the surface distribution at the different frequencies, namely, 0.106 THz, 0.118 THz, 0.14 THz, 0.244 THz, 0.268THz, and 0.29 THz of the top gold surface of the proposed SFLM structure and the bottom layer (ground plan) of the unit cell for y-polarized incident waves. According to Faraday’s law, a changing magnetic field between the two metals causes surface current to flow in opposite directions on the top and bottom of the metallic layers. The black-colored arrow indicates the net current shown in
Figure 4. The equation (5) can be used to determine the relationship between electric and magnetic dipole moments and average electromagnetic fields:
Here,
=
,
is the electric dipole moment and magnetic dipole moment, respectively, while the
=
and
=
is the average tangential electric and magnetic fields, respectively at the metasurface. The time changing electric and magnetic surface current polarization will cause electric and magnetic surface currents on the metasurface, which is expressed in the equation:
where
=
and
=
electric and magnetic current densities, respectively and
is the angular frequency of the incident electromagnetic wave. The relations between the surface current density J and radiated for fields are given by
Figure 4.
Simulated distributions of the Surface current: (a) and (g) at f=0.106THz, (b) and (h) at f=0.118THz, (c) and (i) at f=0.140THz, (d) and (j) at f=0.268THz, (e) and (k) at f=0.244THz, (f) and (l) at f=0.290THz.
Figure 4.
Simulated distributions of the Surface current: (a) and (g) at f=0.106THz, (b) and (h) at f=0.118THz, (c) and (i) at f=0.140THz, (d) and (j) at f=0.268THz, (e) and (k) at f=0.244THz, (f) and (l) at f=0.290THz.
According to Equation (7), for CPC, an electric field that is polarized along the
-direction will result in current flow on the metasurfaces in the
-direction, while an electric field polarized along the
-direction will induce current flow in the
-direction. As shown in
Figure 4a,g,b,h,c,i demonstrated the cross-polarization characteristics at various operating frequencies. At 1.1 THz, 0.11 THz, and 0.14 THz, the surface current on the top metasurface and the ground plate is inversely parallel, leading to the excitation of magnetic resonance and the generation of an induced magnetic field. This induced magnetic field results in the cross-polarization effect where the reflected THz wave becomes
-polarized, as indicated by Equation (6). Similarly,
Figure 4d,j illustrated that, at a frequency of 0.24 THz, the surface current on the top layer becomes corresponding to the ground layer, leading to the generation of electric resonance and the formation of an induced electric field. By decomposing the electric field into its orthogonal components
and
, it is evident that the electric field along the
-axis can cross-couple with the incident electric field to form CPC and result in the reflected THz wave being
-polarized according to Equation (5).
Figure 4e,k,f,l illustrated that, at frequencies 0.26 THz and 0.29 THz, the primarily distributed surface current on the top layer results in the creation of electrical resonance, forming an electric dipole, where the
component of the induced electric field plays a significant role in generating cross-polarization effect. These observations further validate the cross-polarization characteristics and support the electromagnetic behavior described by the equation, showcasing the potential applications of these findings in THz wave manipulation and control.
Furthermore, the phenomena of cross-polarization conversion can be comprehended through the inherent anisotropy in the designed structure. By rotating the standard
-
coordinate system is rotated 45° to establish a unique
u-
v coordinate system, as shown in
Figure 5a, the anisotropic nature of the snowflake-like structure allows the incoming
-polarized wave can be divided orthogonally into constituents along the
u and
v axes. In resulting of this division enables the mathematical representation of the incident and reflected waves as follows [
39]:
and
. Here,
and
represent the reflection coefficients in the
u- and
v-directions, respectively, with subscripts
and
indicating incident and reflected waves.
Moreover, the phase disparity
arises from structural asymmetry, leading to the relationship between reflection coefficients can be written as:
Figure 5b depicts the reflection coefficients of the reflected wave, while
Figure 5c depicts the phase and phase difference. In the frequency range of 0.15 to 0.4 THz, the reflection coefficients
and
approaches to 1, with a phase difference of around ±180°. These results indicate that the synthesized waves of
and
deviate by 90° from the incident wave, showcasing the metasurface's capability to transform y-polarized incident waves into x-polarized reflected waves.
3.2. Performance of the Multifunctional (SFL) Metasurface as an Absorption
Besides the performance of the proposed metasurface in polarization conversion, the multifunctional (SFL) metasurface designed, to operate as an absorber owing to the inherent conductivity of vanadium dioxide (
). As depicted in
Figure 1, a strategically placed
film on the corner of the snowflake-like structure is instrumental in constituting the multiband absorber.
The absorptivity of the multifunctional (SFL) metasurface is determined through the application of Equation (6).
Herein,
represent the reflectivity,
signifies the transmittivity of the metasurface. It is noteworthy that the gold is utilized as the reflector, resulting the transmission is zero, T = 0. The absorptivity of the metasurface for LP waves is computed as an equation
According to equations (7) and (8), when the incident wave is composed of both LP and CP components and given a conductivity of
as
, an absorption rate of 86% is attained at 0.11 THz. Moreover, an absorption exceeding 50% is achieved within the frequency bandwidth ranging from 0.09 THz to 0.15 THz, as illustrated in
Figure 6a,b.
When the conductivity of
is increased to
, the absorption of 61% is obtained at 0.34 THz and achieved more than 50% absorption in bandwidth (0.27 THz – 0.36THz) for LP and CP incident wave as shown in
Figure 6c,d.
Impedance matching theory is an essential principle to evaluate the absorption. In this study, the absorption and relative impedance is achieved as [
46].
where,
is the impedance of the free space and
is the impedance of the metasurface. The absorption of the metasurface occurs when the effective impedance of the multiband absorber aligns with that of the free space. As depicted in
Figure 7a,b, the real part approaches unity and the imaginary part approaches zero. The is calculated by employing Equations (8) and (9) for the conductivity of the
is
and
, respectively.
The necessity for tunability and angular stability is paramount across numerous prospective applications. To ascertain the tunability, an examination of absorption across various conductivities of
is conducted, with the findings consolidated in
Figure 8. As the conductivity of the
increases from
to
, there is a corresponding rise in plasmonic absorption within the
layer, resulting to an enhancement in the absorption of incident light. However, at extremely high conductivities, plasmonic absorption declines due to the heavy damping of plasmons, weakening their coupling with incident light and decreasing the absorption rate. At .11THz absorption reaches to 86% with the conductivity of
is
and 61% with the conductivity of
is
(conductive state), dropping to 0% at
(insulating state), demonstrating adjustable multiband absorption from 0% to 86% as shown in
Figure 8a.
Furthermore, the impact of oblique incident angles is examined when the conductivity of
is
and
respectively, with the result shown in
Figure 8b,c. The investigation reveals the proposed structure robustness resilience across a wide incidence angle spectrum (0
o to 85
o). Meanwhile, the absorption performance is investigated for LP and CP incident waves at the conductivity of
is
and
respectively, which demonstrates polarization independence when the incident terahertz wave is normally incident in wide incidence angles spectrum (0
o to 85
o), owing to the unit cell’s unique rotational symmetry structure, as shown in
Figure 8d,e. The stability of the large incident angles and wide polarization angles stems from the unique configuration of the unit cell. In resulting, the proposed SFL Metasurface design for the absorber has excellent characteristics of wide-angle incidences and wide polarization incidences, which are significant for practical applications.