Mechanism of resonant perfect optical absorber, design rules, and applications

The mechanism of resonant perfect optical absorber (POA) is revealed by coupled mode method. The POA structures here is an air/grating/film/air four region asymmetric structures. Different with common POA structures that require metal film at the bottom to block the transmission of light, the film in our structures serves as a total internal reflection layer which blocks the transmission of light. To demonstrate that, mode dispersion analyses are provided for each mode by the phase plots of the scattering coefficients on each interface. The sufficient and necessary conditions of perfect optical absorption are derived from the phase matching conditions. Three analytical formulae are given for prompt and accurate design rules when the incident wavelength is slightly larger than the periodicity. Several fabrication schemes are discussed. The features of ultrathin structures, widely tunable POA wavelength, and high Q factor make our structures promising for applications in coherent thermal emission, filtering, sensing and modulation.

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