Analysis of Infrared Nano-antennas Material Properties for Solar Energy Collection

This work presents the effect of material properties on three infrared nano antennas that are rectangular, bowtie, and elliptical-shaped designed to collect a maximum field in the gap between the two dipole arms over a frequency band of 28-29THz. The dipole shapes are comprised of conducting dipoles printed on a dielectric substrate. The bowtie is designed to be curved with an exponential shape, and itis found to collect a higher value of the electric field in the gap than do the other two shapes. The above antennas are investigated with different materials for the dipoles and the substrate to study the effect of material variation on the electric field collected in the dipole gap. Three different types of conducting materials, namely, gold, chromium, and titanium are used. It is found that the collected gap field intensity is directly proportional to the conductivity of the dipole material. The effect of three different types of substrates; quartz (GaAs), silicon, and SiO2 on the collected gap field is also investigated.