Transmission/reflection mode switchable ultra-broadband terahertz vanadium dioxide (VO2) metasurface filter for electromagnetic shielding application

In this paper, we present an ultra-broadband terahertz (THz) vanadium dioxides (VO2) metasurface (MS) filter with switchable transmission/reflection modes for electromagnetic (EM) shielding application. The MS filter is composed of a three-layer periodic composite structure, consisting of two VO2/metallic hybrid layers and a metal mesh layer, which are separated by two benzocyclobutene (BCB) dielectric layers. The transmission property of the proposed MS filter is illustrated by the numerical simulation based on the finite element method (FEM) and equivalent circuit model (ECM). When VO2 is in insulating state, the designed composite structure acts as a filter with ultra-broadband bandpass response (BPR), exhibiting that the transmission coefficient exceeds 90% from 1.07 THz to 3.78 THz, with a relative bandwidth of 112%. However, owing to thermal excitation, the VO2 converts from an insulating to a metallic state, the composite structure can be functioned as a filter with ultra-broadband bandstop response (BSR) with a transmission coefficient less than 6% spanning the range of 0.1 to 4.5 THz. In addition, the physical mechanism of the designed MS filter is investigated utilizing impedance matching theory and electric field distribution analysis. Furthermore, the MS filter has good polarization insensitivity and angular stability. Finally, we quantify the shielding effectiveness (SE) in two states and evaluate the impact structural parameters of the unit-cell, resulting in a SE of more than 25 dB in reflection mode across the entire operating frequency range. Our proposed MS filter with its exquisite performance has the potential to be widely applied in EM shielding.