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Graphene-based compact polarization-insensitive broadband terahertz absorber for sensing applications

  • Manpreet Kaur , Hari Shankar Singh ORCID logo EMAIL logo and Mayank Agarwal
Published/Copyright: March 18, 2025
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Abstract

This paper presents a compact broadband absorber designed for sensing applications at terahertz frequencies. The proposed design includes a dielectric material, a metallic ground plane made of copper, and a graphene-based elliptical slot-loading rectangular resonator. The unit cell of the proposed absorber measures dimensions of 6 μm × 6 μm. The proposed absorber demonstrates remarkable absorption characteristics, with over 90 % absorption across a wide frequency spectrum of 0–18 THz. At 12.2 THz, the absorption performance is nearly perfect, with an absorption rate of 99.9 %. Further, the proposed absorber has a symmetric design, facilitating it to be insensitive to polarization. It possesses stable characteristics for both Transverse-Electric (TE) and Transverse-Magnetic (TM) waves for the incidence angle (θ) ≥ 40°. Additionally, the performance of the suggested absorber is analysed with regard to the effects of various analyte materials as well as modifications in the graphene characteristics. This graphene-based absorber outperforms previously reported THz absorbers in terms of relative bandwidth, absorption peak, oblique stability, and overall volume.


Corresponding author: Hari Shankar Singh, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala 147004, Punjab, India, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Government of India (File No. CRG/2022/001256) for providing financial assistance to carry out this work.

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Author contributions: The authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission

  3. Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.

  4. Conflict of interests: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  5. Research funding: Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Government of India (File No. CRG/2022/001256).

  6. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  7. Data availability: The raw data can be obtained on request from the corresponding author.

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Received: 2024-09-27
Accepted: 2025-02-19
Published Online: 2025-03-18
Published in Print: 2025-06-26

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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