Optically and radio frequency (RF) transparent meta-glass

• Main Authors: Safari Mahdi, He Yuchu, Kim Minseok, Kherani Nazir P., Eleftheriades George V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: De Gruyter 2020-06-01
• Series: Nanophotonics
• Subjects: 5g communication; metamaterials; metasurfaces; radomes; transparency
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2020-0056

We propose a radio frequency (RF) and visibly transparent composite metasurface design comprising newly developed transparent multilayer conductive coatings. Detailed experimental and theoretical analysis of the RF/visible transparency of the proposed meta-glass is provided. The proposed nature-inspired symmetrical honeycomb-shaped meta-glass design, alters the electromagnetic properties of the glass substrate in the RF spectrum by utilizing visibly transparent Ag-based conductive coatings on each side. Furthermore, the competing effect of the Ag thickness on optical and RF transparency is discussed. We show that using multilayer dielectric-metal coatings, specifically 5-layered spectrally selective coatings, RF transparency of the meta-glass can be enhanced while preserving visible transparency. Herein we demonstrate high transparency meta-glass with 83% and 78% peak RF and optical transmission at 28 GHz and 550 nm, respectively. The meta-glass yields enhanced RF transmission by 80% and 10% when compared to low-emissivity glass and bare glass, respectively. The meta-glass design presented here is amenable to a variety of 5G applications including automobile radar systems. This work provides a superior alternative to the standard indium-tin-oxide (ITO) transparent material which is becoming scarce. Moreover, this study paves the way for the design of new visibly transparent metamaterials and artificial dielectrics.