Investigating the Absorption Spectra of a Plasmonic Metamaterial Absorber Based on Disc-in-Hole Nanometallic Structure

Abstract

In this work, we present and explore the characteristics of a plasmonic metamaterial absorber based on a metal–insulator–metal functional stack. The proposed structure consists of glass “sandwiched” between a silver reflector and a titanium metallic disc, embedded inside a Ti periodic nano-hole array, as an outside layer. In the visible and infrared regimes, the optical absorption spectra of such structures have been investigated using the finite difference time domain method. The impact of modifying nano-hole and embedded disc diameters on the absorber’s performance has been investigated. Changing these two distinct structural parameters tunes the coupling effect between the localized and propagating surface plasmons. The adequate bandwidth, average spectral absorption rate, and short circuit current density are calculated to determine the performance of the designated absorber. The proposed structure of the plasmonic metamaterial absorber reaches an average absorption of over 94% in a bandwidth of 0.81 µm and near-perfect absorption of 98% around the wavelength of 0.7 µm, with an almost 100% relative absorption bandwidth and 41 mA/cm2 short circuit current density. In addition, the results show that the disc-in-hole absorber’s structural parameters can be changed precisely and facilely to tailor to the absorption spectra.