Near-absolute polarization insensitivity in grapheme based ultra-narrowband perfect visible light absorber

Abstract

Strong light-graphene interaction is essential for the integration of graphene to nanophotonic and optoelectronic devices. The plasmonic response of graphene in terahertz and mid-infrared regions enhances this interaction, and other resonance mechanisms can be adopted in near-infrared and visible ranges to achieve perfect light absorption. However, obtaining near-absolute polarization insensitivity with ultra-narrow absorption bandwidth in the visible and near-infrared regimes remains a challenge. In this regard, we numerically propose a graphene perfect absorber, utilizing the excitation of guided-modes of a dielectric slab waveguide by a novel sub-wavelength dielectric grating structure. When the guided-mode resonance is critically coupled to the graphene, we obtain perfect absorption with an ultra-narrow bandwidth (full-width at half-maximum) of 0.8 nm. The proposed design not only preserves the spectral position of the resonance, but also maintains >98% absorption at all polarization angles. The spectral position of the resonance can be tuned as much as 400 nm in visible and near-infrared regimes by tailoring geometrical parameters. The proposed device has great potential in efficient, tunable, ultra-sensitive, compact and easy-to-fabricate advanced photodetectors and color filters.