Origami metamaterials for ultra-wideband and large-depth reflection modulation

Zicheng Song; Juan-Feng Zhu; Xianchao Wang; Ruicong Zhang; Pingping Min; Wenxin Cao; Yurong He; Jiecai Han; Tianyu Wang; Jiaqi Zhu; Lin Wu; Cheng-Wei Qiu

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-46907-3

Origami metamaterials for ultra-wideband and large-depth reflection modulation

Nat Commun. 2024 Apr 12;15(1):3181. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-46907-3.

Authors

Zicheng Song^#^{1

2}, Juan-Feng Zhu^#³, Xianchao Wang^#⁴, Ruicong Zhang^{1

2}, Pingping Min^{1

2}, Wenxin Cao^{1

2}, Yurong He⁵, Jiecai Han¹, Tianyu Wang⁶, Jiaqi Zhu^{7

8}, Lin Wu^{9

10}, Cheng-Wei Qiu¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Center for Composite Materials and Structures, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150080, China.
² Zhengzhou Research Institute, Harbin Institute of Technology, Zhengzhou, 450018, China.
³ Science, Mathematics and Technology, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), 487372, Singapore, Singapore.
⁴ School of Mathematics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150080, China.
⁵ School of Energy Science & Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150080, China.
⁶ School of Energy Science & Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150080, China. tianyu_wang@hit.edu.cn.
⁷ Center for Composite Materials and Structures, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150080, China. zhujq@hit.edu.cn.
⁸ Zhengzhou Research Institute, Harbin Institute of Technology, Zhengzhou, 450018, China. zhujq@hit.edu.cn.
⁹ Science, Mathematics and Technology, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), 487372, Singapore, Singapore. lin_wu@sutd.edu.sg.
¹⁰ Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC), 138632, Singapore, Singapore. lin_wu@sutd.edu.sg.
¹¹ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, 117583, Singapore, Singapore. chengwei.qiu@nus.edu.sg.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

The dynamic control of electromagnetic waves is a persistent pursuit in modern industrial development. The state-of-the-art dynamic devices suffer from limitations such as narrow bandwidth, limited modulation range, and expensive features. To address these issues, we fuse origami techniques with metamaterial design to achieve ultra-wideband and large-depth reflection modulation. Through a folding process, our proposed metamaterial achieves over 10-dB modulation depth over 4.96 - 38.8 GHz, with a fractional bandwidth of 155% and tolerance to incident angles and polarizations. Its ultra-wideband and large-depth reflection modulation performance is verified through experiments and analyzed through multipole decomposition theory. To enhance its practical applicability, transparent conductive films are introduced to the metamaterial, achieving high optical transparency (>87%) from visible to near-infrared light while maintaining cost-effectiveness. Benefiting from lightweight, foldability, and low-cost properties, our design shows promise for extensive satellite communication and optical window mobile communication management.