Plasmonic Nanostructures for Broadband Solar Absorption Based on Synergistic Effect of Multiple Absorption Mechanisms

Abstract

The growing attention to solar energy has motivated the development of highly efficient solar absorbers. In this study, a high-performance meta-structure solar absorber (MSSA) based on a tungsten truncated cone structure combined with a film resonator structure has been proposed and demonstrated numerically. The designed structure exhibits over 97.1% total solar absorption efficiency and less than 8.5% total thermal emissivity under the condition of one solar concentration, hence reaching 91.6% photothermal conversion efficiency at 100 °C. In addition, the proposed MSSA achieves promisingly high spectrum absorptance of over 97.8% in the ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared regions (280–1700 nm). Based on the simulation analysis, the enhanced light absorption is attributed to the synergistic effect of the magnetic polaritons (MPs) on the nanostructured metal surface, the cavity plasmon resonance between the truncated cones that can form light-trapping structures, the magnetic field resonance of the metal–insulator–metal (MIM) optical resonator and the inherent loss of tungsten. The impedance of the absorber is well matched with free space. Furthermore, the optimized absorber shows great potential in solar thermophotovoltaic applications that require wide-angle polarization-independent ultra-broadband light response characteristics.