The strong non-reciprocity of metamaterial absorber: characteristic, interpretation and modelling

• Published in: Journal of physics. D, Applied physics Applied physics, 2009-05, Vol.42 (9), p.095408
• Main Authors: Li, Yuanxun, Xie, Yunsong, Zhang, Huaiwu, Liu, Yingli, Wen, Qiye, Ling, Weiwei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied classical electromagnetism; Electromagnetic wave propagation, radiowave propagation; Electromagnetism; electron and ion optics; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Optical materials; Optics; Photonic bandgap materials; Physics; Wave optics; Wave propagation, transmission and absorption
• ISSN: 0022-3727; 1361-6463
• DOI: 10.1088/0022-3727/42/9/095408

We simulated the metamaterial absorbers in two propagation conditions and observed the universal phenomenon of strong non-reciprocity. It is found that this non-reciprocity cannot be well interpreted using the effective medium theory, which indicates that the designing and understanding for the metamaterial absorber based on the proposed effective medium theory could not be applicable. The reason is pointed out that the metamaterial absorber does not satisfy the homogeneous-effective limit. So we put forward a three-parameter modified effective medium theory to fully describe the metamaterial absorbers. We have also investigated the relationships of @iS-parameters and absorptance among the metamaterial absorbers and the two components inside. Then the power absorption distributions in these three structures are discussed in detail. It can be concluded that the absorption is derived from the ERR structure and is enhanced largely by the coupling mechanism, and the strong non-reciprocity results from the different roles which wire structure plays in both propagation conditions.