Design and Analysis of a Vanadium Dioxide-Based Ultra-Broadband Terahertz Metamaterial Absorber (2508.05590v1)

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.