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OPEN Multiband terahertz

metamaterial perfect absorber
for microorganisms detection
Ruchi Bhati  & Anil K Malik *

We report a multi-resonant terahertz (THz) metamaterial perfect absorber (MPA)-based biosensor

in the working frequency range of 0 − 3.8THz for sensing of microorganisms (such as fungi, yeast)
and wheat pesticides. Nearly 100% absorption is realized at f1 = 1.7THz, f2 = 2.8THz, f3 = 3.2THz,
and f4 = 3.5THz . We designed our THz MPA sensor making resonators’ gap area compatible with the
microorganisms’ size. To obtain optimum performance of the MPA, a mapping of amplitudes and shifts
in the absorption resonance peaks with different structural parameters of the resonators is carried out.
A very high-frequency shift is obtained for microorganisms such as Penicillium chrysogenum (fungi),
yeast, and pesticides (Imidacloprid, N, N-Diethyldithiocarbamate sodium salt trihydrate, Daminozide,
N, N-Diethyldithiocarbamate sodium salt hydrate, and Dicofol). An equivalent circuit model using
Advance Design System (ADS) software is developed. The calculated results through the model show
similar trends as obtained in the simulations using CST. Investigations of the effect of incidence angle
of THz wave on the absorption spectra of the MPA are also carried out. It is found that incidence angle
does not impact the stability of the lower resonance absorption peak (1.79THz). Due to the wide
working frequency range, the proposed sensor is extremely suitable for the detection of all range
of pesticides because their specific absorption fingerprint lies in the frequency range of 0–3.8THz.
We believe that our sensor could be a potential detection tool for detecting pesticide residues in
agriculture and food products. The THz MPA-based biosensor is capable of detecting a very small
change in the effective dielectric constant of the MPA environment. Therefore, it can also offer huge
opportunities in label-free biosensing for future biomedical applications.

Sensors are a vital part of modern technology due to their applications in imaging, medicine, food quality
control, agriculture, defense etc. Food safety and security are two foremost public health concerns that require
fast and non-destructive inspection ­techniques1–4. Due to fingerprints of pesticide and antibiotics in terahertz
(THz) spectral r­ ange5, 6, THz spectroscopy facilitates non-contact, label-free, non-destructive inspection for food
safety and c­ ontrol7–12. Moreover, early detection of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi is also
very important for food s­ ecurity13, 14. However, due to the typical size of /100, microorganisms are transparent
at THz frequency leading to low scattering cross-section and are difficult to detect by the THz s­ pectroscopy15.
To overcome this constraint, metamaterial-based THz sensors have been proposed for the detection of micro-
organisms like bacteria, yeast, and m ­ olds16, where metamaterial resonators are designed in such a way that the
gap area of resonators becomes compatible with the size of microorganisms. Here, the resonance frequency of
metamaterials is extremely sensitive to any changes in the dielectric constant of the gap area of the ­resonators17,
18
. Extensive research is being carried out to develop metamaterial-based resonant ­devices19–21. For example, Hos-
sain et al. proposed photonic crystal fiber-based sensor for petrochemical sensing a­ pplications22 and detection
of bane c­ hemicals23. Among these devices, metamaterial perfect absorbers (MPAs) can offer huge opportunities
due to their potential ­applications24, 25.
It is possible to minimize reflectivity and transmittivity close to zero for MPAs by impedance matching. To
further expand the application prospects of MPAs, the number of absorption frequency peaks and workable
frequency bands need to be broadened. Several reports show that flexibility to work in a wide range of frequency
bands can be obtained by optimizing the dimensions of M ­ PAs26–32. Khan et al.33, 34 proposed a technique to design
a THz absorber for biosensing applications specially for the detection of breast cancer, malaria in blood and
glucose in water by altering the multimodal resonance on ultrathin silicon ring resonator in frequency range
of 5–8THz. Varshney et al.35 numerically analyzed a graphite/dielectric cavity resonator-based absorber for

Photonics and Metamaterials Laboratory, Department of Physics, Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut,
Uttar Pradesh 250004, India. *email: [email protected]

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wideband absorption. Zamzam et al.36 designed an MPA with a metal-dielectric-metal multi-layer column with
different heights of the dielectric layer, where they achieved two absorption peaks. Wang et al.37 demonstrate
a triple-band terahertz metamaterial absorber at 0.337, 0.496, and 0.718THz where they used three concentric
square ring resonators. A metamaterial absorber consisting of three closed circular ring resonators on a polyeth-
ylene terephthalate substrate is investigated by Abdulkarim et al.38, where a Q-factor of 50.72 was reported. Meng
et al.39 demonstrated a multi-band terahertz absorber made of periodic square metallic ribbon with a T-shaped
gap. Several resonator structures like square spiral s­ hape40, SSRR( square split ring resonator)41, Jerusalem ­Cross42
, CSRR (Circular split ring resonator)43, eight-resistive arm ­cell44, and Ring C-shape quasi-MMA45 have been
investigated. Most of the reported THz meta-sensors suffer from limitations such as larger unit cell size, one
or two absorption peaks, low absorption coefficients, and polarization sensitivity. A small range of working
frequency of a sensor limits it to the detection of some specific pesticides and microorganisms while, a wide
working frequency range of a sensor can help in detecting a wide range of pesticides and microorganisms. The
maximum working frequency range reported earlier lies between 0.4 − 2.4THz which can not cover all ranges of
pesticides and microorganisms(0 − 4THz ). Moreover, multiple resonances enhance the flexibility of the sensor.
In this paper, we report a THz metamaterial perfect absorber-based biosensor creating reso-
nators’ gap area compatible with the microorganisms’ size. We obtain almost 100% absorption at
f1 = 1.7THz, f2 = 2.8THz, f3 = 3.2THz, and f4 = 3.5THz in THz frequency range between 0 − 3.8THz due to
strong inductive–capacitive coupling of resonators. This wide working frequency range of MPA is highly required
for fast and non-destructive detection of microorganisms like molds, yeast cells, fungi, and pesticides because
their fingerprints lie in the same frequency range. Our investigations are the first to detect microorganisms and
wheat pesticides using THz MPA. We carry out detailed simulations to study the sensing performance of the
proposed sensor. We obtain the frequency shift 103GHz (high sensitivity) for microorganisms and 95GHz for
pesticides. A mapping of shifts in the resonance peaks of MPA with structural parameters is also carried out.
Interference theory is used to explain the absorption mechanism. An equivalent circuit model using Advance
Design System (ADS) software is developed. Multi-resonant MPA-based THz biosensors are remarkably desir-
able for label-free biosensing of a family of microorganisms (bacteria, yeast, molds, etc.). Authors believe that the
proposed sensor is a potential detection tool for detecting pesticide residues in agriculture and food products.

Design and analysis of MPA based sensor

We investigate several metastructures consisting of (1) only one stripe resonator, (2) two stripes resonator, (3)
two stripes and one square resonator (SR), (4) two stripes and two SRs, and (5) two stripes and 1 open book-like
resonator (designed by putting two SRs obliquely) on Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) substrate (dielectric constant
12.96) (Fig. 1). GaAs substrate is selected due to its high band gap, high breakdown voltage, and better heat &
moisture resistivity. A thin gold layer on the lower side of the substrate as a ground plane is used to suppress the
transmission of the THz signal. We select gold for resonators due to its high conductivity, which causes induct-
ance and capacitance to produce resonance at the desired frequency.
The highest absorption coefficient is obtained for an open book-type metastructure, where oblique sheets offer
the ability to manipulate the bandwidth of MPA leading to different resonance conditions and different optical
paths for resonances. The experimental method for fabrication of Multiple Oblique Flat Sheets (MOFS) based
MPAs has been reported by Lu et al.46. They used e-beam lithography procedure where they fixed their sample
on a sample holder with a tilted angle of 86◦ with respect to the horizon and conducted oblique angle deposition.
A Similar method can be used for the fabrication of book-type metastructure. Sensor parameters for an open
book-type metastructure are optimized as: periodicity (P) = 70µm, substrate thickness (ts ) = 15µm, width of
metal stripes (ws ) = 4.5µm, length of metal stripes (Ls ) = 50µm, gap between the metal stripes (G) = 40µm, the
thickness of ground metallic plane (tm ) = 0.08µm, length(L) and width(w) of the open book resonator = 20µm
and 15µm, g = 5µm respectively. These tilted resonators (periodic open books) can outperform the previously
reported MPAs without any additional burden.
A plane electromagnetic wave (THz) polarized along the x-axis is used to illuminate the proposed device.
We applied unit cell boundary conditions in x- and y- directions, while the THz beam considered as floquet
port mode (with 2 essential modes) incident normally along the z-direction. The simulation is performed with
/100 cells, where  is wavelength of incident radiation. Total number of tetrahedrons as 812 145 along with the
adaptive meshing. The schematic of an MPA-based biosensor with incident, reflected, and absorbed THz beam
is shown in Fig. 1f. Simulations are carried out using commercial software CST Microwave Studio Suite in fre-
quency domain. A finite element method-based algorithm is employed to obtain precise simulation results. To
assure minimum reflection of THz beam from metamaterial surface i.e. R(ω) = S11 2 ≈ 0, where S is scattering
11
parameter that measures reflectivity. A perfect impedance matching with air intrinsic impedance ( Zo) (where
real and imaginary parts of Z(�) are close to 1 and 0 respectively) is obtained. To suppress the transmission of
THz wave through MPA to zero, a metallic ground plane on the bottom side of substrate (T(ω) = S21 2 = 0, where
S21 is scattering parameter that measures transmissivity) is used.
The absorption of MPA can be explained using interference ­theory47–49. In Fig. 2, we considered the thickness
of metallic layer as zero (denoted as layer 1). Air and dielectric substrate are denoted by area 1 and 2, respectively.
The reflection coefficient of layer 1 i.e. area 1 to 1 is S11 = |S11 |ejθ11, the transmission coefficient of layer 1 from
area 1 to 2 is S21 = |S21 |ejθ21, the transmission coefficient of layer 1 from area 2 to 1 is S12 = |S12 |ejθ12, the reflec-
tion coefficient of layer 1 from area 2 to 2 is S22 = |S22 |ejθ22 . THz wave is incident in the positive z-direction,
and metallic ground with boundary condition electric (Et = 0), which work as a reflector is applied in negative
z-direction. Total reflection coefficient (S11total ) for layer 1 is calculated as

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Figure 1.  Schematic of the unit cell with (a) only one metal stripe resonator, (b) two metal stripes resonators,
(c) two stripes + one square resonator (SR), (d) two stripes + two SRs, (e) two stripes + 1 open book resonator,
which is designed by putting two SRs obliquely, and (f) a schematic of MPA - based sensor with incident,
reflected, and absorbed THz beam.

S11total = S11 + S12 e−jβ e−jπ e−jβ S21 + S12 e−jβ e−jπ e−jβ S21 (S22 e−jβ e−jπ e−jβ )1 S21
(1)
+ S12 e−jβ e−jπ e−jβ S21 (S22 e−jβ e−jπ e−jβ )2 S21 + · · ·

α 
 n
S11total = S11 + S12 e−j(2β+π) S21 S22 e−j(2β+π)
n=0 (2)
jθ11 −j(−θ12 −θ21 +2β+π) −j(−θ22 +2β+π)

S11total = |S11 |e + |S12 ||S21 |e 1 − |S22 |e

where |S12 | ≈ |S21 |. Thus

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Figure 2.  Schematic of interference theory model with incident, reflected, and transmitted wave.

S11total = |S11 |ejθ11 + |S12 |2 ej(2θ12 −2β−π) 1 − |S22 |ej(θ22 −2β−π) (3)


Here, β = kd is propagation phase constant, d is the transmitted wave propagation distance from layer 1 to the
ground and k is the wavenumber. We use these equations to calculate absorption of proposed MPA. Due to
metallic ground, transmission coefficient becomes zero and absorption depends only on reflection coefficient
(S11total ). We calculate the absorption coefficients of MPA as
 Zin − Z0 2
 
A(ω) = 1 − R(ω) = 1 − |S11total |2 = 1 −   (4)
Zin + Z0 
Zin (impedance of MPA) depends on its effective permittivity and permeability. Effective permittivity and per-
meability are the functions of electric and magnetic responses of MPA at resonance frequencies. In terms of
S- parameters, Zin is calculated as

2
(1 + S11 )2 − S21

µ
Zin = = 2 2
(5)
ǫ (1 − S11 ) − S21

The absorption coefficients in terms of S-parameters are calculated as

 2
2
 (1+S11 )2 −S21 
 2
 (1−S11 )2 −S21 − Z0   (1 + S )2 − Z (1 − S )2 2
 
11 0 11
(6)

A(ω) = 1 −    = 1 − 
 
 
2
 (1+S11 )2 −S21
  (1 + S11 )2 + Z0 (1 − S11 )2 
 (1−S )2 −S2 + Z0

11 21

To better understand the absorption behavior, we thoroughly investigate the effect of structural parameters at
resonance frequencies. 2D colormaps in Fig. 3 show the effect of variations in length of the stripe (Ls ), the width
of the stripes (ws ), width and position of the open book resonator on absorption coefficients. Value of Ls is varied
from 20µm to 50µm as shown in Fig. 3a. Due to the increase in inductance and capacitance of metallic stripes
with an increase in Ls , a redshift in the resonances is observed with increase in Ls . The maximum absorption is
obtained at Ls = 50µm.
The effect of the width of metal stripe (ws ) (from 4µm to 10µm) on absorption coefficient is shown in Fig. 3b.
The absorption coefficients for all four resonances become unity at ws = 4.5µm, which decreases with increasing
ws . Enhancement in the size of metallic resonators leads to high reflections. Absorption performance of MPA
with width of open book type SRs(for w = 5 − 30µm) is shown in Fig. 3c. We obtain the highest absorption for
w = 15µm without any shift in the resonance frequencies. Figure 3d shows the effect of the length of SRs (for
L = 10 to 50µm) on resonance frequencies and absorption coefficients. It is found that the absorption coefficient
decreases with increase in the length of the open book due to high reflections. MPA gives the highest absorption
for L = 20µm and zero absorption for L = 50µm.

Advance design system (ADS) based equivalent circuit model

We also design an equivalent lumped circuit using ASD -2019 simulation software, where unit cell of MPA has
four resonators i.e. two metal stripes and two SRs as shown in Fig. 1e. Each resonator behaves as an RLC circuit
(Fig. 4).
The inductances of each metallic resonator (L1 , L2 , L3 , & L4 ) are calculated using Grover’s f­ ormula50
 
2l tm + w 1
L = µ0 µr ln − 0.2235ln + (7)
tm + w l 2

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Figure 3.  Absorption characteristics for different (a) length of metal stripe, (b) width of metal stripe, (c) width
of open book resonator, and (d) length of open book resonator.

Figure 4.  (a) Equivalent circuit design of MPA, (b) reflection coefficient spectra calculated by ADS, (c)
reflection coefficient spectra simulated by CST.

where l is the length of resonators, w is width of resonators, tm is thickness of resonators. The associated coupling

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capacitances C1 , C2 , C3 , C4 of MPA is calculated ­using51

As
Cs = ǫo ǫr (8)
ds
where As , ds , ǫo and ǫr represent the area of the stripe, capacitive gap between the resonators, permittivity of free
space, and relative permittivity of the medium, respectively. We get similar reflection spectra of MPA as obtained
in CST microwave studio suite-based simulations. The reflection characteristics (S11 ) obtained by ADS perfectly
match with simulation results (Fig. 4b,c), which confirms the accuracy of the results.

Results and discussion

Prospects of MPA increase with the widening of working frequency band and also with the increase in the
number of absorption peaks. We properly optimize the lattice structure (by optimizing the shape and size of the
resonators) of the MPA to enhance the working frequency band and also the number of absorption peaks. We
carry out simulations for absorption spectra for five different structures for : (1) one stripe resonator - we get
two resonance frequencies with a maximum of 32% absorption, (2) two stripes resonators- two resonances are
obtained but absorption increases up to 50%, (3) two metal stripes and one square resonator (SR)- we get four
absorption peaks, first with 99.12% absorption, second with 70% absorption, third with 58% absorption, and
fourth with 55% absorption, (4) two metal stripes and two SRs- we get four absorption peaks, first & second with
99.12% and 99.95% absorption, third with 67% absorption, and fourth with 42% absorption, and (5) two metal
stripes and one open book like resonator between the stripes –four resonance absorption peaks at frequencies
f1 = 1.7THz, f2 = 2.8THz, f3 = 3.2THz, and f4 = 3.5THz with 99.12%, 99.95%, 98.5%, and 99% absorption are
achieved as shown in Fig. 5a. The high absorption coefficients in case of book-like structure occur due to the
strong inductive–capacitive coupling among the resonators. The resonators of different sizes are responsible for
producing absorption peaks at specific frequencies and their superposition effect yields perfect absorption in
multiple frequency ­bands52–54. Thus, the dimension of the unit cell structure and the shape of resonators have a
vital role in accomplishing absorption near unity.
We also figure out the effect of incidence angle on the absorption peaks. Absorption spectra with different
angles of incidence of THz wave are shown in Fig. 5b. As the incidence angle increases, the first resonance
absorption peak (1.79THz) is almost stable while higher-order absorption peaks display slight deviations in
resonance frequencies, which shows that lower frequency side resonance is stable with incident angle. The higher

Figure 5.  (a) The simulated absorbance spectra for five different types of resonators; (b) Absorption spectra for
different incident angles of THz beam, and (c) Shifting in resonances with analytes of different refractive indices
(1–2).

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frequency side absorption peaks are slightly more sensitive to the incidence angle of THz than the first absorp-
tion peak. Figure 5c shows shifting in resonance frequencies after application of analytes of different refractive
indices. The red shift in all four resonant frequencies is obtained with a change in the effective refractive index of
the meta-surface environment. The redshift increases with an increase in refractive index of the testing sample
materials. It is also observed from Fig. 5c that the red shift is larger for higher frequency resonances than the
lower frequency resonances. Thus, it can be used to identify the type of analyte materials. The resonance shift
is obtained as S = fa − fo, where fa is the resonance frequency with analyte refractive index and fo is resonance
frequency without analyte(air). We get maximum frequency shift of 68GHz, 110GHz, and 157GHz, 201GHz for
f1 = 1.7THz, f2 = 2.8THz, f3 = 3.2THz, f4 = 3.5THz , respectively for refractive index 2. The highest shifting
for f = 3.5THz is due to the fact that resonance shifting is greater for higher resonant ­modes12.
We investigate the performance of the sensor for different microorganisms such as yeast, pesticides, and fungi.
Experimental data reported by Park et al.16 and theoretical data (obtained using the effective medium theory
based on the Maxwell-Garnett mode) for dielectric constants of microorganisms are used for our investigations.
Experimentally, Penicillium chrysogenum (fungi) and yeast were grown by streaking on medium method at
37◦ C and deposited on the surface of the metamaterial. A conventional photo-lithography method was used to
prepare the metamaterial pattern and the THz time-domain spectroscopic technique was used to characterize
the ­samples16. The measured values of the dielectric constants were reported between 1.37 − 1.94 for fungi and
5.38 − 8.54 for yeast. Experimental findings were examined using the finite difference time-domain solver. The
absorption patterns for Penicillium chrysogenum(fungi) and yeast are shown in Fig. 6a. The respective frequency
shifts of 70GHz and 103GHz are observed for Penicillium chrysogenum and yeast. Due to large dielectric con-
stant of yeast, redistribution of the resonance of electric and magnetic fields leading to a strong modulation of
the absorption peak provides a larger resonance shift. The traits of the sensed microorganism can be obtained
by calculating the frequency shift of the absorption peaks.
We also study the sensing performance for several pesticides like Imidacloprid, N, N-Diethyldithiocarbamate
sodium salt trihydrate, Daminozide, N, N-Diethyldithiocarbamate sodium salt hydrate, and Dicofol. For this
purpose, we use the experimental values of refractive indices reported by Maeng et al.6. The measured refractive
index(RI) of Imidacloprid, N, N-Diethyldithiocarbamate sodium salt trihydrate, Daminozide, N, N-Diethyl-
dithiocarbamate sodium salt hydrate, and Dicofol are shown in Table 1. The absorption vs. frequency spectra
of all pesticides are shown in Fig. 6b. A redshift of resonance frequencies by 95GHz is observed in the presence
of pesticides. A comparison of sensing performances with earlier reports is given in Table 2. The comparison
shows that the sensitivity of our sensor is multi-fold higher for pesticides and microorganisms than previously
reported ­sensors15, 16, 55–57.
To gain deep insight into the physical mechanism behind the absorption process of MPA, we study the electric
field and surface current distribution of a unit cell at resonance conditions. Figure 7a–d show the simulation

Figure 6.  (a) Absorbance spectra for Penicillium chrysogenum(blue), yeast(red), and air (green) with the
effective dielectric constant of 1.94, 8.2, and 1, respectively, and (b) Absorbance spectra for five types of wheat
pesticides.

Name of pesticides Formula RI Absorption (THz)

Imidacloprid C9 H10 CIN5 O2 1.87 1.36,1.76
N,N-Diethyldithiocarbamate sodium salt trihydrate C5 H10 NNaS2 ∗ 3H2 O 1.99 1.11, 1.41, 1.74, 2.40
N,N-Diethyldithiocarbamate sodium salt hydrate C3 H6 NNaS2 ∗ H2 O 2.08 0.99, 1.50
Daminozide C6 H12 N2 O3 1.68 1.32, 2.40
Dicofol C14 H9 C15 O 1.70 2.34

Table 1.  Name of pesticides used for sensing, along with their molecular formula, refractive index, and
absorption peak in THz region.

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Reference Frequency (THz) Resonaces (THz) Sensing target Shifting (GHz)

Tantiwanichapan et al.44 1.8–2.4 1.92 Pesticides 20
Xu et al.45 0.75–0.95 0.86 Pesticides 15
Cui et al.46 0.4–2.4 1.03, 1.45, 1.77 Pesticides 40
This work 0.2–3.7 1.7, 2.8, 3.2, 3.5 Microorganisms 103
This work 0.2–3.7 1.7, 2.8, 3.2, 3.5 Pesticides 95

Table 2.  A comparison of sensing performance of proposed THZ MPA sensor for pesticides with previously
reported sensors.

Figure 7.  (a–d) Electric field, (a1–d1) Surface current distributions on top layer, and (a2–d2)
Surface current distributions on bottom layer of the designed MPA at resonance frequencies:
(a1, a2)f1 = 1.7THz, (b1, b2)f2 = 2.8THz, (c1, c2)f3 = 3.2THz, (d1, d2)andf4 = 3.5THz.

results of the electric field at resonances 1.7THz, 2.8THz, 3.2THz, and 3.5THz, respectively. Figure 7a1–d1 &
a2–d2 show the surface current distributions of the top and the bottom layers, respectively. Antiparallel currents
form a current loop leading to the excitation of the magnetic dipole r­ esonance58. The surface currents on both
metallic layers are flowing in opposite directions at resonances (Fig. 7), which generates the magnetic flux cou-
pling with the incident H-field. The antiparallel surface currents on the top and bottom layers of MPA validate
that the absorption peaks are caused by magnetic resonance responses. Therefore, the stronger absorption of the
MPA is instigated by the excitation of multiple high-order magnetic resonances.

Conclusion
We develop a novel THz MPA-based sensor for sensing biological analytes. The highest absorption coef-
ficient is obtained for an open book-type metastructure. Four resonance absorption peaks at frequencies
f1 = 1.7THz, f2 = 2.8THz, f3 = 3.2THz, and f4 = 3.5THz having absorption coefficients 99.12%, 99.95%, 98.5%,
and 99%, respectively are obtained.We also studied the absorption spectra of the MPA with different oblique
incidences of THz wave and found that lower resonance absorption peak (1.79THz) is almost stable while higher
absorption peaks show slight deviations. The effect of structural parameters(length and width of metal stripes
and book resonator) on the resonance frequencies is analyzed to get the optimum performance of the MPA. To
gain deep insight into the mechanism of MPA, an equivalent circuit model is developed using advance design

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system (ADS) software. Multiple interference theory is used to explain the absorption mechanism. Surface cur-
rent distribution depicts that strong absorption of the MPA is instigated by the excitation of multiple high-order
resonances. Due to the change in the effective dielectric constant of the MPA environment with the deposition of
microorganisms, significant redshifts in the resonance peaks (redshift of 103GHz for yeast, redshift of 70GHz for
fungi) are observed. These shifts in resonance frequencies are due to the redistribution of the resonance electric
and magnetic fields, which lead to a strong modulation of the absorption. Thus, by functionalizing the substrate
with antibodies, a selective detection of microorganisms is also plausible. We believe that this MPA-based THz
biosensor can open up new opportunities for obtaining dielectric information on microorganisms, which has
great potential in label-free biosensing for future biomedical applications.

Methods
We have used commercial software CST Microwave Studio Suite to design and simulate our MM unit cell. In
x – and y – directions, unit cell boundary conditions are applied and in z-direction, open add space is employed
to obtain the absorption behavior of the unit cell with adaptive tetrahedral messing. THz radiation is incident
normally on the structure with an electric field along the x-direction. A field monitor is applied at the resonant
frequency to obtain electric field and surface current distribution. Additionally, advanced design system(ADS
-2019) software is used to design an equivalent circuit of MPA using to analyze its functioning. In our simula-
tion, we chose GaAs as a substrate with a dielectric constant of 12.94 and loss tangent of 0.006, and gold as a
metal for ­resonator18.

Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon
reasonable request.

Received: 26 June 2023; Accepted: 5 November 2023

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Acknowledgements
The author Ruchi Bhati thanks CSIR, Government of India for her research fellowship.

Author contributions
R.B. developed the concept, carried out the simulation, theoretical model, analysis of data, and wrote the manu-
script. A.K.M. as the principal investigator, conceived the idea, planned, coordinated, and supervised the project.

Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information
Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to A.K.M.
Reprints and permissions information is available at www.nature.com/reprints.
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.

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