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1.清华大学电子工程系,北京 100084
2.北京信息科学与技术国家研究中心,北京 100084
3.清华大学天基网络与通信全国重点实验室,北京 100084
Received:21 August 2025,
Accepted:22 November 2025,
Published:25 November 2025
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闫雯荻, 李越. 零折射率人工电磁媒质理论及其应用[J]. 电子学报, 2025, 53(11): 4157-4170.
YAN Wen-di, LI Yue. Near-Zero-Index Metamaterials and Applications[J]. Acta Electronica Sinica, 2025, 53(11): 4157-4170.
闫雯荻, 李越. 零折射率人工电磁媒质理论及其应用[J]. 电子学报, 2025, 53(11): 4157-4170. DOI:10.12263/DZXB.20250732
YAN Wen-di, LI Yue. Near-Zero-Index Metamaterials and Applications[J]. Acta Electronica Sinica, 2025, 53(11): 4157-4170. DOI:10.12263/DZXB.20250732
零折射率(Near-Zero-Index,NZI)媒质因其在电磁波调控中展现出的独特物理特性,近年来成为人工电磁媒质研究的重要方向.与传统材料不同,NZI 媒质能够在介电常数或磁导率趋近于零的条件下表现出波长无限拉伸、相速度趋于无穷、传播相位不变等特征,进而呈现“时域振荡、空域静止”的时空解耦特性.这些特性为突破常规器件在尺寸、带宽和形状受限等方面的瓶颈提供了新的物理途径.本文系统回顾了NZI媒质的物理基础、实现机制及典型人工结构形式.首先从物理机理出发,介绍其波长拉伸、超耦合效应与理想能流特征;随后综述了NZI媒质的实现方式,并进一步介绍了近年来发展迅速的“光学掺杂”理论,即通过在NZI媒质中引入异质掺杂体实现等效磁导率的精细调控,从而在亚波长尺度上构建 NZI 人工电磁媒质.该方法具有参数可调、几何无关和易集成等优势,已成为NZI媒质工程化的重要手段.在应用方面,本文从吸收、传输与辐射三个角度总结了NZI人工电磁媒质的典型功能与性能优势;在吸收方面,利用 NZI 媒质中的场增强效应、阻抗匹配机制及完美相干吸收,可实现超高灵敏度传感、高效热辐射调控、超薄吸收表面等;在传输方面,利用NZI媒质的超耦合效应、阻抗调控能力与色散工程,可实现任意形状的无反射能量传输、高效率可弯曲互连、多端口功率分配以及多通道频分复用等功能器件;在辐射方面,利用NZI媒质的几何无关性与零相移特性,可实现波前整形、定向辐射与方向图可重构等功能,构建形状无关、高集成度的可调控天线器件.目前,NZI人工电磁媒质仍面临带宽受限、损耗较大与工艺兼容性差等关键挑战.未来发展方向包括:发展宽带低损耗材料体系,实现结构与模式的协同优化;推动力学、热学、量子等多物理场交叉融合,实现与芯片及光学深度集成等.
Near-zero-index (NZI) media have emerged as a significant research direction in artificial electromagnetic (EM) media in recent years due to their unique physical properties in EM wave manipulation. Unlike traditional materials
NZI media can exhibit features such as infinitely stretched wavelength
infinite phase velocity
and unchanged propagation phase under conditions where the permittivity or permeability approaches zero. This leads to a spatiotemporal decoupling characteristic described as “temporal oscillation
spatial stillness”. These properties provide new physical pathways to overcome the bottlenecks of conventional devices in terms of size
bandwidth
and shape constraints.This article systematically reviews the physical fundamentals
implementation mechanisms
and typical NZI metamaterials. Starting from the physical mechanisms
this article introduces their wavelength stretching
supercoupling effects
and ideal power flow characteristics. Subsequently
the implementation methods of NZI media are summarized
and the rapidly developing theory of “photonic doping” is further introduced. This theory involves introducing heterogeneous doping elements into NZI media to achieve fine-tuning of the effective permeability
thereby constructing NZI metamaterials at subwavelength scales. This method offers advantages such as tunable parameters
geometry independence
and ease of integration
making it an important engineering approach for NZI media.In terms of applications
this article summarizes the typical functions and performance advantages of NZI metamaterials from three perspectives: absorption
transmission
and radiation. In absorption
leveraging the field enhancement effects
impedance matching mechanisms
and perfect coherent absorption in NZI media enables ultra-high sensitivity sensing
efficient thermal radiation control
and ultra-thin absorbing surfaces. In transmission
utilizing the supercoupling effects
impedance control capabilities
and dispersion engineering of NZI media enables functional devices such as reflectionless energy transmission of arbitrary shapes
high-efficiency bendable interconnects
multiport power distribution
and multichannel frequency division multiplexing. In radiation
exploiting the geometry independence and zero-phase-shift characteristics of NZI media enables wavefront shaping
directional radiation
and reconfigurable radiation patterns
facilitating the construction of shape-independent
highly integrated tunable antenna devices.Currently
NZI metamaterials still face critical challenges such as limited bandwidth
significant losses
and poor process compatibility. Future development directions include: developing broadband
low-loss material systems to achieve synergistic optimization of structures and modes; promoting interdisciplinary integration across mechanical
thermal
quantum
and other physical fields; and realizing deep integration with chip and optical platforms.
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