Electrically tunable metasurface absorber based on dissipating behavior of embedded varactors

An electrically tunable metasurface that absorbs continuous electromagnetic (EM) surface waves is proposed by taking advantage of varactor diodes embedded in the surface. On the one hand, the varactors perform as the main dissipating components due to their parasitic series resistance; on the other hand, they function as the tuning elements because the dissipation is highly dependent on their capacitance. Therefore, the absorption of the surface can be tuned by the direct current biasing voltage across the varactors, which is validated numerically and experimentally in this letter. This absorbing mechanism of the surface differs from prior surface-wave absorbers and can lead to greater flexibility for absorbing metasurfaces. In this work, a power-dependent absorbing performance is achieved by loading microwave power sensors. If incorporated with other types of sensors, the absorption could potentially be controlled by corresponding physical variables such as light, pressure, or temperature, thus giving rise to various absorbing applications in a complex EM environment.