Broadband plasmonic perfect light absorber in the visible spectrum for solar cell applications

Abstract

The coupling of electromagnetic waves with subwavelength metal structures results in the perfect light absorption and has been extensively explored in the recent years for many possible applications like photovoltaics, sensing, photodetectors, emitters and camouflaging systems to name a few. Herein we present the design and fabrication of a broadband plasmonic light absorber using aluminum as functional material for operation in the visible frequency range. The metal structures can be tuned in size to manipulate the plasmonic resonance; thereby light absorption at any desired wavelengths could be realized. Thus the broadband light absorber in the visible spectrum is designed using metal structures of different sizes supporting non-overlapping individual resonances at regular intervals of wavelengths. The metal structures of different sizes are grouped in to a single unit cell and the absorber is fabricated by periodically arranging these unit cells in a square lattice. Light absorption of more than 90% for over a broad wavelength range of 200 nm from 425 nm to 650 nm in the visible spectrum is demonstrated.

Strong Interference in Planar, Multilayer Perfect Absorbers: Achieving High-Operational Performances in Visible and Near-Infrared Regimes

“…Inherently, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in plasmonic noble metals has narrow spectral coverage. To extend the absorption bandwidth (BW), various strategies such as the use of multidimensional/ multishaped units and elongated shapes [2]- [10], replacement with a lossy component, and elongated, double-resonant units have been proposed [11]- [16].…”

Phase characterisation of metalenses

“…Metalenses, as emergent metasurfaces [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] , have attracted increasing interest for their possible applications in advanced imaging and focusing. On-demand phase manipulation is one of the essential abilities of a metalens 9,10 .…”

Ultra-Broadband, Lithography-Free, Omnidirectional, and Polarization-Insensitive Perfect Absorber

“…More recently, several strategies have been proposed to improve the absorption performance of the resonant PAs. For example, a straightforward solution is to combine various subwavelength patterns with different shapes and/or dimensions to broaden the absorption bandwidth [16][17][18][19][20][21][22] .…”