Diatom Frustule‐Inspired Metamaterial Absorbers: The Effect of Hierarchical Pattern Arrays

Abstract

Diatoms are photosynthetic algae that exist ubiquitously throughout the planet in water environments. Over the preceding decades, the diatom exoskeletons, termed frustules, featuring abundant micro-and nanopores, have served as the source material and inspiration for myriad research efforts. In this work, it is demonstrated that frustule-inspired hierarchical nanostructure designs may be utilized in the fabrication of metamaterial absorbers, thereby realizing a broadband infrared (IR) absorber with excellent performance in terms of absorption. In an effort to investigate the origin of this absorption characteristic, numerical models are developed to study these structures, revealing that the hierarchical organization of the constituent nanoparticulate metamaterial unit cells introduce an additional resonance mode to the device, broadening the absorption spectrum. It is further demonstrated that the resonant peaks shift linearly as a function of inter-unitcell spacing in the metamaterial, which is attributed to the induced collective dipole mode by the nanoparticles. Ultimately, the work herein represents an innovative perspective in terms of the design and fabrication of IR absorbers inspired by naturally occurring biomaterials, offering the potential to lead to advances in metamaterial absorber technology.

One-reactor vacuum and plasma synthesis of transparent conducting oxide nanotubes and nanotrees: from single wire conductivity to ultra-broadband perfect absorbers in the NIR

“…Previous attempts to develop broadband near-perfect absorption surfaces relied on the use of metamaterials, surface plasmons, 2D materials, or resonant optical cavities. [63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70] Common shortcomings of these efforts are narrow spectral bands and complex fabrication procedures with limited scalability for large-area applications. 29 Recently, several authors have reported alternative solutions based on the formation of one-dimensional nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes, Si nanoarrays, Cu nanowires, and ITO nanowires.…”

Broadband metamaterials and metasurfaces: a review from the perspectives of materials and devices

“…In [91], broadband absorption is achieved by using crossed trapezoidal patterns. In [92], a hierarchical structure is used to provide additional resonance to an existing resonance structure, mimicking the shape of a diatom frustule. A super-cell structure can also provide metamaterials with multiple resonances.…”

Chlorophyll-Inspired Tunable Metamaterials With Multi-Negative Refractive Index Bands: The Porphyrin Ring and Hydrophobic Tail Effect

“…MTMs are excited or stimulated by diverse sources and forces, e.g., electromagnetic fields in photonic MTMs, sound waves in acoustic MTMs, and the flow of heat or diffusive particles in thermodynamic MTMs, respectively. There were several attempts to design bioinspired MTM structures in a broad EM spectrum ranging from sound wave to the optical frequency [15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. It was demonstrated that frustule-inspired hierarchical nanostructure designs could be utilized in broadband infrared metamaterial absorbers [15].…”

“…There were several attempts to design bioinspired MTM structures in a broad EM spectrum ranging from sound wave to the optical frequency [15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. It was demonstrated that frustule-inspired hierarchical nanostructure designs could be utilized in broadband infrared metamaterial absorbers [15]. A hierarchical metamaterial for multispectral camouflage of infrared and microwaves was also introduced [16].…”