Gadolinium silicide (Gd₅Si₄) nanoparticles for tuneable broad band microwave absorption

Abstract

We report that soft magnetic Gd<sub>5</sub>Si<sub>4</sub> nanoparticles exhibit excellent microwave absorption in the Ku-band (12.4-18 GHz) when dispersed in poly (dimethyl siloxane), PDMS. The minimum experimentally recorded reflection loss (RL) of Gd<sub>5</sub>Si<sub>4</sub>-PDMS nanocomposite is -69 dB, with a large bandwidth for a single 6 mm-thick layer. The bandwidth can be further extended by using a novel design where 1 mm-thick layers of the nanocomposite are arranged into a modified pyramid-shaped absorber. Standard electromagnetic (EM) simulations confirm experimental results.