Abstract
Abstract In recent years, sub-wavelength metamaterials-based light perfect absorbers have been the subject of many studies. The most frequently utilized absorber configuration is based on nanostructured plasmonic metals. However, two main drawbacks were raised for this design architecture. One is the fabrication complexity and large scale incompatibility of these nano units. The other one is the inherent limitation of these common metals which mostly operate in the visible frequency range. Recently, strong interference effects in lithography-free planar multilayer designs have been proposed as a solution for tackling these drawbacks. In this paper, we reveal the extraordinary potential of bismuth (Bi) metal in achieving light perfect absorption in a planar design through a broad wavelength regime. For this aim, we adopted a modeling approach based on the transfer matrix method (TMM) to find the ideal conditions for light perfect absorption. According to the findings of our modeling and numerical simulations, it was demonstrated that the use of Bi in the metal-insulator-metal-insulator (MIMI) configuration can simultaneously provide two distinct functionalities; a narrow near unity reflection response and an ultra-broadband near perfect absorption. The reflection behavior can be employed to realize additive color filters in the visible range, while the ultra-broadband absorption response of the design can fully harvest solar irradiation in the visible and near infrared (NIR) ranges. The findings of this paper demonstrate the extraordinary potential of Bi metal for the design of deep sub-wavelength optical devices.
Highlights
Optical metamaterials have been the subject of intensive investigations for the design of highly efficient sub-wavelength devices in recent years
The other one is the inherent limitation of these common metals which mostly operate in the visible frequency range
We adopted a modeling approach based on the transfer matrix method (TMM) to find the ideal conditions for light perfect absorption
Summary
Optical metamaterials have been the subject of intensive investigations for the design of highly efficient sub-wavelength devices in recent years. We reveal the extraordinary potential of bismuth (Bi) metal in the design of light perfect absorbers For this purpose, as an initial step, a modeling methodology based on the transfer matrix method (TMM) was developed for MIM and MIMI configurations to find the permittivity data of an ideal perfect absorber. The abovementioned limit is not applied for this metal Inspired by these findings, we numerically investigated the absorption spectra of Bi-based MIM and MIMI cavities. We numerically investigated the absorption spectra of Bi-based MIM and MIMI cavities In addition to their ultra-broadband absorption BW, Bi-based absorbers exhibit a narrowband high amplitude reflective response in the shorter wavelength values. This introduces a new functionality to our cavity design, which is highly efficient reflective color filtering. As demonstrated in this study, the right choice of material could lead to a highly efficient optical device in dimensions much smaller than the wavelength
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