In this paper, an optically transparent and wideband absorber/reflector with switchable states and tunable frequency spectrum is presented. The proposed structure consists of a Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layer with microchannel structures and an Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) layer as the metal panel. The switching function is implemented by controlling the injection and discharge of pure water, and the switchable frequency band of the absorbing and reflecting states ranges from 7.9 to 34.4 GHz with a fractional bandwidth of 125.2%. The tunable properties are achieved by changing the concentration of the injected saline water. In addition, the distributions of the electric field, the magnetic field and the power loss density are used to further understand the physical mechanism of the structure. Moreover, it also performs well under different polarizations and incident angles. For validation, a transparent and wideband absorber/reflector is fabricated and tested, and the simulated and measured results are consistent with each other.
A reconfigurable absorber/reflector, which has optical transparency and broadband switching function, is developed based on structured water medium. The conductive indium tin oxide (ITO) coating is deposited on a thin polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film to act as the reflective backplane. Pure water is encapsulated by polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) materials to construct structured water. The average optical transmittance is about 61.88%/56.44% in the visible spectrum of 380 – 760 nm with/without pure water. Based on the super-element configuration and the stacking technique, an obvious switching function from broadband absorption (12.47 – 28.43 GHz) to broadband reflection (12 – 30 GHz) can be attained under normal incidence through the injection and discharge of pure water,. Besides, the broadband switchable characteristics of the proposed structure remain effective for TE and TM modes when illuminated by oblique incident waves up to 45°. Moreover, the proposed switchable absorber/reflector shows good temperature stability and can work under different liquid temperatures. Furthermore, the excellent performance of the proposed design is demonstrated by both simulated and experimental results, exhibiting great potential as transparent smart windows in large-scale ground-based stealth systems.
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