Thanks to its high electrical conductivity, a graphene plane presents a good shielding efficiency against GHz electromagnetic radiations. Several graphene planes separated by thin polymer spacers add their conductivities arithmetically, because each of them conserves the intrinsic properties of isolated graphene. Maximum absorption of radiations for frequency around 30[emsp14]GHz is achieved with six separated graphene planes, which is the optimum number. This remarkable result is demonstrated experimentally from electromagnetic measurements performed in the Ka band on a series of multilayers obtained by piling 1, 2, 3 [mldr] graphene/PMMA units on a silica substrate. Theoretical calculations convincingly explain the observed absorption and transmission data in the GHz domain. It is concluded that graphene/PMMA multilayers can be used as an efficient optically transparent and flexible shielding media.

Fresnel equations predict that an ultrathin free standing conductive film, thousands times thinner than skin depth, is capable to absorb up to 50% of incident electromagnetic radiations. In the microwave range, the same holds true for a free standing graphene sheet. We demonstrate theoretically and prove experimentally that microwave absorptance of graphene can be enhanced considerably by depositing graphene on a dielectric substrate. On the experimental side, we obtain 80% and 65% absorptance at 30 GHz and 1 THz, respectively. Theory predicts that higher absorptance can be achieved with a suitable choice of the dielectric permittivity and the thickness of the substrate. Absorption can also be maximized by choosing the optimum incidence angle for s-polarized waves in free space or by working in the vicinity of the cut-off frequency of the transverse electric mode in waveguide configuration. The polarization sensitivity of the transmittance and reflectance of graphene layers can be used to tune the polarization state of the transmitted and reflected radiations.

The ability of thin conductive films, including graphene, pyrolytic carbon (PyC), graphitic PyC (GrPyC), graphene with graphitic islands (GrI), glassy carbon (GC), and sandwich structures made of all these materials separated by polymer slabs to absorb electromagnetic radiation in microwave-THz frequency range, is discussed. The main physical principles making a basis for high absorption ability of these heterostructures are explained both in the language of electromagnetic theory and using representation of equivalent electrical circuits. The idea of using carbonaceous thin films as the main working elements of passive radiofrequency (RF) devices, such as shields, filters, polarizers, collimators, is proposed theoretically and proved experimentally. The important advantage of PyC, GrI, GrPyC, and GC is that, in contrast to graphene, they either can be easily deposited onto a dielectric substrate or are strong enough to allow their transfer from the catalytic substrate without a shuttle polymer layer. This opens a new avenue toward the development of a scalable protocol for cost-efficient production of ultralight electromagnetic shields that can be transferred to commercial applications. A robust design via finite-element method and design of experiment for RF devices based on carbon/graphene films and sandwiches is also discussed in the context of virtual prototyping.

We investigated several proposals utilizing the unique electronic properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for a broad range of applications to THz optoelectronics, including THz generation by Cerenkov-type emitters based on carbon nanotubes and by hot electrons in quasimetallic nanotubes, frequency multiplication in chiral-nanotube-based superlattices controlled by a transverse electric field, and THz radiation detection and emission by armchair nanotubes in a strong magnetic field. Dispersion equations of the electron beam instability and the threshold conditions of the stimulated emission have been derived and analyzed, demonstrating realizability of the nanotube-based nanoFEL at realistic parameters of nanotubes and electronic beams.

The microscopic theory of bilayer graphene nonlinear interaction with coherent electromagnetic radiation is developed. The Liouville–von Neumann equation for a single-particle density matrix in the multiphoton resonant approximation is solved. We consider low-energy excitations of a Fermi-Dirac sea with THz pump radiation. The obtained solutions disclose Rabi oscillations and resonant multiphoton excitations of a Fermi-Dirac sea in bilayer graphene. On the basis of numerical simulations we examine the rates of high-harmonic radiation at particle-hole annihilation in the field of a strong pump wave. We show that in the THz domain of frequencies one can achieve efficient generation of high harmonics with pump waves of moderate intensities.

A mechanism of stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation by an electron beam in carbon nanotubes is theoretically considered. Three basic properties of carbon nanotubes: a strong slowing down of surface electromagnetic waves, ballisticity of the electron motion over typical nanotube length, and extremely high electron current density reachable in nanotubes, allow proposition of them as candidates for the development of nanoscale Cherenkov-type emitters, analogous to traveling-wave tube and free electron laser. Dispersion equations of the electron-beam instability and the threshold conditions of the stimulated emission have been derived and analyzed, demonstrating realizability of the nanotube-based nano-free electron lasers at realistic parameters of nanotubes and electronic beams.