Design of ultra-broadband absorption enhancement in plasmonic absorber by interaction resonance of multi-plasmon modes and Fabry-Perot mode

Abstract

This paper shows a strategy to realize ultra-broadband absorption of multi-spectral coverage. A vertical cascaded plasmonic absorber constructed by multilayer helical metallic nanostructure wrapped in a pyramid-shaped dielectric jacket is presented and investigated by numerical simulations. By premeditated planning of the scale proportions of the spirals and the dimension size of the pyramid-shaped dielectric, more than 90% of absorption is realized in 189-3896 nm, an ultra-wide spectral range that basically covers the bands of near-ultraviolet, visible light, and near-infrared. The excitation mechanism of electromagnetic resonance and the formation process of light trapping are both included in the investigation through the analysis of electromagnetic field distribution. The localized surface plasmon mode in the metallic nano-spiral and the Fabry-Perot cavity mode with the gap plasmon resonance in the dielectric gap cooperatively make a significant contribution to reduce the reflection and form the ultra-broadband absorption. The simulation results show that the proposed absorber is basically insensitive to the incident angle and polarization angle, which basically keeps more than 90% absorption within the incident angle of ± 80 °. Such a specific implementation idea can also be applied to the terahertz region by modifying the geometrical size of the structure. This presented design implies new viability to develop the broadband photodetectors, solar cells, and thermal emitters.