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Thermal transport in silicon nanowires (SiNWs) has recently attracted considerable attention due to their potential applications in energy harvesting and generation and thermal management. The adjustment of the thermal conductivity of SiNWs through surface effects is a topic worthy of focus. In this paper, we briefly review the recent progress made in this field through theoretical calculations and experiments. We come to the conclusion that surface engineering methods are feasible and effective methods for adjusting nanoscale thermal transport and may foster further advancements in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the design of a novel multiband metamaterial bandpass filter (BPF) in the terahertz (THz)-wave region. The designed BPF is composed of a metal–dielectric–metal sandwiched structure with three nested rings on the top surface and a cross structure on the bottom surface. Full-wave simulation results show that the designed BPF has three transmission peaks at frequencies of 0.42, 1.27, and 1.86 THz with transmission rates of −0.87, −1.85, and −1.83 dB, respectively. Multi-reflection interference theory is introduced to explain the transmission mechanism of the designed triple-band BPF. The theoretical transmission spectrum is in good agreement with the full-wave simulated results. The designed BPF can maintain a stable performance as the incident angle varies from 0° to 30° for both transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarizations of the incident wave. The designed BPF can be potentially used in THz devices due to its multiband transmissions, polarization insensitivity, and stable wide-angle response in the THz region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicene, a silicon analogue of graphene, has attracted increasing research attention in recent years because of its unique electrical and thermal conductivities. In this study, phonon thermal conductivity and its isotopic doping effect in silicene nanoribbons (SNRs) are investigated by using molecular dynamics simulations. The calculated thermal conductivities are approximately 32 W/mK and 35 W/mK for armchair-edged SNRs and zigzag-edged SNRs, respectively, which show anisotropic behaviors. Isotope doping induces mass disorder in the lattice, which results in increased phonon scattering, thus reducing the thermal conductivity. The phonon thermal conductivity of isotopic doped SNR is dependent on the concentration and arrangement pattern of dopants. A maximum reduction of about 15% is obtained at 50% randomly isotopic doping with30Si. In addition, ordered doping (i.e., isotope superlattice) leads to a much larger reduction in thermal conductivity than random doping for the same doping concentration. Particularly, the periodicity of the doping superlattice structure has a significant influence on the thermal conductivity of SNR. Phonon spectrum analysis is also used to qualitatively explain the mechanism of thermal conductivity change induced by isotopic doping. This study highlights the importance of isotopic doping in tuning the thermal properties of silicene, thus guiding defect engineering of the thermal properties of two-dimensional silicon materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase gradient metasurfaces (PGMS) offer a fascinating ability to control the amplitude and phase of the electromagnetic (EM) waves on a subwavelength scale, resulting in new applications of designing novel microwave devices with improved performances. In this paper, a reflective symmetrical element, consisting of orthogonally I-shaped structures, has been demonstrated with an approximately parallel phase response from 15 GHz to 22 GHz, which results in an interesting wideband property. For practical design, a planar antenna is implemented by a well-optimized focusing metasurface and excited by a self-designed Vivaldi antenna at the focus. Numerical and experimental results coincide well. The planar antenna has a series of merits such as a wide 3-dB gain bandwidth of 15–22 GHz, an average gain enhancement of 16 dB, a comparable aperture efficiency of better than 45% at 18 GHz, and also a simple fabrication process. The proposed reflective metasurface opens up a new avenue to design wideband microwave devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose an anisotropic planar transmitting metasurface, which has the ability to manipulate orthogonally-polarized electromagnetic waves in the reflection and refraction modes respectively. The metasurface is composed of four layered rectangular patches spaced by three layered dielectric isolators each with a thickness of 0.15λ0 at 15 GHz. By tailoring the sizes of the patches, the metasurface functions as a band-stop filter for the y-polarzied wave and a band-pass filter for the x-polarized wave operating from 14 GHz to 16 GHz. Moreover the phases of the transmitting x-polarized wave can be modulated at about 15 GHz, which contributes to beam steering according to the general refraction law. Experimental results are in good accordance with the simulated ones, in which the reflection efficiency is almost 100% while the transmission efficiency of the x-polarized wave reaches 80% at 15 GHz. Besides, the transmitted x-polarized wave is effectively manipulated from 14 GHz to 16 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method to design an ultra-thin high-gain circularly-polarized antenna system with high efficiency is proposed based on the geometrical phase gradient metasurface (GPGM). With an accuracy control of the transmission phase and also the high transmission amplitude, the GPGM is capable of manipulating an electromagnetic wave arbitrarily. A focusing transmission lens working at Ku band is well optimized with the F/D of 0.32. A good focusing effect is demonstrated clearly by theoretical calculation and electromagnetic simulation. For further application, an ultra-thin single-layer transmissive lens antenna based on the proposed focusing metasurface operating at 13 GHz is implemented and launched by an original patch antenna from the perspective of high integration, simple structure, and low cost. Numerical and experimental results coincide well, indicating the advantages of the antenna system, such as a high gain of 17.6 dB, the axis ratio better than 2 dB, a high aperture efficiency of 41%, and also a simple fabrication process based on the convenient print circuit board technology. The good performance of the proposed antenna indicates promising applications in portable communication systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a polarization beam splitter based on phase gradient metasurface for microwave frequency region. The metasurface is constructed by anisotropic cells with independent phase response for differently-polarized waves. Through putting different gradient phases for orthogonally-polarized waves on a focusing metasurface, the anisotropic sample has the ability to enhance gain and split orthogonally-polarized waves. The simulation results indicate that the incident spherical waves are converted into plane waves and split into an x-polarized wave with a refraction angle of −24° and a y-polarized wave with a refraction angle of 37.6° in the y direction. For verification, a metasurface sample with a size of 102.5 mm ×102.5 mm is fabricated and measured. The consistence between numerical and experimental results validates the improved gain of 10.5-dB against the feed source and the splitting effect. Moreover, the thickness of the proposed metasurface is 3 mm which is ultra-thin against the wavelength at 15 GHz. The proposed prescription opens a new route to the applications of anisotropic metasurface in microwave band. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]