Ultra-Narrowband Anisotropic Perfect Absorber Based on α-MoO3 Metamaterials in the Visible Light Region

Abstract

Optically anisotropic materials show important advantages in constructing polarization-dependent optical devices. Very recently, a new type of two-dimensional van der Waals (vdW) material, known as α-phase molybdenum trioxide (α-MoO3), has sparked considerable interest owing to its highly anisotropic characteristics. In this work, we theoretically present an anisotropic metamaterial absorber composed of α-MoO3 rings and dielectric layer stacking on a metallic mirror. The designed absorber can exhibit ultra-narrowband perfect absorption for polarizations along [100] and [001] crystalline directions in the visible light region. Plus, the influences of some geometric parameters on the optical absorption spectra are discussed. Meanwhile, the proposed ultra-narrowband anisotropic perfect absorber has an excellent angular tolerance for the case of oblique incidence. Interestingly, the single-band perfect absorption in our proposed metamaterials can be arbitrarily extended to multi-band perfect absorption by adjusting the thickness of dielectric layer. The physical mechanism can be explained by the interference theory in Fabry–Pérot cavity, which is consistent with the numerical simulation. Our research results have some potential applications in designs of anisotropic optical devices with tunable spectrum and selective polarization in the visible light region.