Metamaterials as broadband absorbers, tunable color filters, and multi-functional metasurfaces

Abstract

Metamaterials have enabled us to come up with artificial structures and designs that can perform optical functionalities which are not achievable with natural materials. Here we design and implement three important applications of metamaterials as: 1. Ultra-broadband absorbers, 2. Real-time tunable color filters, and 3. Wideband and wide-angle efficient beam deflector and Multi-functional angular filter. By lithogra-phy being a major hinder on the way to mass production and cost-effectiveness, most of our works are lithography-free. We have introduced Manganese (Mn) for the first time as a very promising metal for broadband absorption and have used it in all our works. Four different Mn-based broadband absorbers are designed and fabricated in different chapters. Mn is used in the Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) cavity, annealed MIM configuration, top-layer-patterned MIM configuration, and random nanopyra-mids. It is shown in all works that Mn has a much better performance compared to other metals. For instance, in the work based on random nanopyramids, we obtain ultraviolet (UV) to far-infrared (FIR) perfect absorption by exploiting a lithography-free method and only by coating a single Mn layer on a high-roughness substrate. Moreover, using the combination of the MIM cavity and an electro-optic material, we have shown that a lithography-free color filter can be achieved that covers the whole visible spectrum by changing the voltage from -12 to 12 volts. Finally, in a structure composed of Silicon nano-rods, an ultra-wideband and wide-angle highly-efficient beam deflection is obtained. What makes the same structure very promising is that it also has multifunctional applications as band-pass, band-stop, and low-pass angular filter.