title: A universal electromagnetic energy conversion adapter based on a metamaterial absorber.
abstract: On the heels of metamaterial absorbers (MAs) which produce near perfect electromagnetic (EM) absorption and emission, we propose a universal electromagnetic energy conversion adapter (UEECA) based on MA. By choosing the appropriate energy converting sensors, the UEECA is able to achieve near 100% signal transfer ratio between EM energy and various forms of energy such as thermal, DC electric, or higher harmonic EM energy. The inherited subwavelength dimension and the EM field intensity enhancement can further empower UEECA in many critical applications such as energy harvesting, photoconductive antennas, and nonlinear optics. The principle of UEECA is understood with a transmission line model, which further provides a design strategy that can incorporate a variety of energy conversion devices. The concept is experimentally validated at a microwave frequency with a signal transfer ratio of 96% by choosing an RF diode as the energy converting sensor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716 USA.
authors.forename: Yunsong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716 USA.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Glenn Research Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Cleveland, Ohio 44135 USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Glenn Research Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Cleveland, Ohio 44135 USA.
authors.forename: Rainee N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Simons
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716 USA.
authors.forename: Yunpeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716 USA.
authors.forename: John Q
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Xiao