Intended applications for the metamaterial absorber include emitters, photodetectors, sensors, spatial light modulators, infrared camouflage, wireless communication, and use in solar photovoltaics and thermophotovoltaics.
For practical applications, the metamaterial absorbers can be divided into two types: narrow band and broadband.
Skin depth engineering can be used in metamaterial absorbers in photovoltaic applications as well as other optoelectronic devices, where optimizing the device performance demands minimizing resistive losses and power consumption, such as photodetectors, laser diodes, and light emitting diodes.
These structures have the capability to control electromagnetic radiation in unique ways that are not exhibited by conventional materials.
Most of the work in metamaterials is focused on the real parts of these parameters, which relate to wave propagation rather than attenuation.
By independently manipulating resonances in ε and μ it is possible to absorb both the incident electric and magnetic field.
Additionally, a metamaterial can be impedance-matched to free space by engineering its permittivity and permeability, minimizing reflectivity.