Design and optimization of a polarization-insensitive Ti/TiO2 metamaterial absorber using particle swarm optimization for broadband solar–thermal applications

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, a polarization-insensitive and ultra-broadband metamaterial absorber composed of titanium (Ti) and titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) resonators is proposed. The multilayer architecture integrates three square resonators and one disk resonator, which are optimized to maximize absorption across the 0.25–4 μm spectral range. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) yields an average absorption of 98.99% and a bandwidth of 3533 nm (467–4000 nm). The structure maintains absorption above 80% for transverse magnetic (TM) polarization and above 90% for transverse electric (TE) polarization for wavelengths above 600 nm, even at incidence angles up to 60°. Under the Air Mass 1.5 Global spectrum (AM 1.5G) solar spectrum, the device achieves a solar absorption efficiency of 98.17% and a thermal emission efficiency of 99.26% at 1800 K. This performance is a result of the combined effects of surface plasmon polaritons, magnetic plasmons, and localized surface plasmon resonances. The absorber further demonstrates robustness against structural variations, maintaining over 90% absorption across the wavelength range of 250–4919 nm (BW = 4669 nm). The designed absorber exhibits a compact electrical size, with a total thickness of approximately 0.2λ and periodicity of 0.1λ, calculated at the longest operating wavelength (4 μm), confirming its subwavelength characteristics and suitability for planar integration. In comparison to existing Ti-based absorbers, this design provides both the broadest operational bandwidth and the highest efficiency, indicating strong potential for solar energy harvesting applications.