Investigation of a Multi-Layer Absorber Exhibiting the Broadband and High Absorptivity in Red Light and Near-Infrared Region

Abstract

In this study, an absorber with the characteristics of high absorptivity and ultra-wideband (UWB), which was ranged from the visible light range and near-infrared band, was designed and numerically analyzed using COMSOL Multiphysics® simulation software (version 6.0). The designed absorber was constructed by using two-layer square cubes stacked on the four-layer continuous plane films. The two-layer square cubes were titanium dioxide (TiO2) and titanium (Ti) (from top to bottom) and the four-layer continuous plane films were Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm), Ti, silica (SiO2), and Ti. The analysis results showed that the first reason to cause the high absorptivity in UWB is the anti-reflection effect of top TiO2 layer. The second reason is that the three different resonances, including localized surface plasmon resonance, the propagating surface plasmon resonance, and the Fabry-Perot (FP) cavity resonance, are coexisted in the absorption peaks of the designed absorber and at least two of them can be excited at the same time. The third reason is that two FP resonant cavities were formed in the PNIPAAm and SiO2 dielectric layers. Because of the combination of the anti-reflection effect and the three different resonances, the designed absorber presented the properties of UWB and high absorptivity.