Localized surface plasmon resonance in refractory metamaterials

Abstract

Owing to their tunable electromagnetic properties, subwavelength structures such as metamaterials have enabled novel applications across fields of engineering. In particular, metal-insulator-metal (MIM) plasmonic metamaterials have demonstrated efficient light energy absorption based on localized surface plasmon resonances. Due to these properties, MIM plasmonic resonance structures present its potential applications for photon absorption or emission at elevated temperatures, such as thermophotovoltaics. However, majority of reported MIM plasmonic structures are built with materials with a lower melting point such as gold or silver. Therefore, there are needs to explore how refractory materials affect the resonance properties of MIM plasmonic structures for high-temperature applications. In this work, we numerically report MIM plasmonic metamaterials built with highly refractory materials. Based on finite-difference timedomain (FDTD) simulation results, light absorption of these metamaterials peaks as high as 99.9% at the wavelength of 8.3 μm. This strong, selective absorption is attributed to the localized surface plasmon resonance. The results of this study suggest that the applications of MIM plasmonic devices may be extended for higher-temperature environments.