Large-area, cost-efective, ultrabroadband perfect absorber utilizing manganese in metal-insulator-metal structure

Abstract

Achieving broadband absorption has been a topic of intensive research over the last decade. However, the costly and time consuming stage of lithography has always been a barrier for the large-area and mass production of absorbers. In this work, we designed, fabricated, and characterized a lithography-free, large-area compatible, omni-directional, ultra-broadband absorber that consists of the simplest geometrical configuration for absorbers: Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM). We introduced and utilized Manganese (Mn) for the first time as a very promising metal for broadband absorption applications. We optimized the structure step-by-step and compared Mn against the other best candidates introduced so far in broadband absorption structures and showed the better performance of Mn compared to them. It also has the advantage of being cheaper compared to metals like gold that has been utilized in many patterned broadband absorbers. We also presented the circuit model of the structure. We experimentally achieved over 94 percent average absorption in the range of 400-900 nm (visible and above) and we obtained absorption as high as 99.6 percent at the wavelength of 626.4 nm. We also experimentally demonstrated that this structure retains broadband absorption for large angles up to 70 degrees.