A universal design to realize a tunable perfect absorber from infrared to microwaves

Rafik Smaali (1) , Fatima Omeis (1) , Antoine Moreau (1) , Thierry Taliercio (2, 3) , Emmanuel Centeno (1)

1 IP - Institut Pascal
2 IES - Institut d’Electronique et des Systèmes
3 NANOMIR - Composants à Nanostructure pour le moyen infrarouge

We propose a design for an universal absorber, characterized by a resonance frequency that can be tuned from visible to microwave frequencies independently of the choice of the metal and the dielectrics involved. An almost perfect absorption up to 99.8% is demonstrated at resonance for all polarization states of light and for a very wide angular aperture. These properties originate from a magnetic Fabry-Perot mode that is confined in a dielectric spacer of λ/100 thickness by a metamaterial layer and a mirror. An extraordinary large funneling through nano-slits explains how light can be trapped in the structure. Simple scaling laws can be used as a recipe to design ultra-thin perfect absorbers whatever the materials and the desired resonance wavelength, making our design truly universal.

Domaines: Electronique; Electromagnétisme

Rafik Smaali, Fatima Omeis, Antoine Moreau, Thierry Taliercio, Emmanuel Centeno. A universal design to realize a tunable perfect absorber from infrared to microwaves. Scientific Reports, 2016, 6, pp.32589. ⟨10.1038/srep32589⟩. ⟨hal-01626666⟩