Ultra-broadband terahertz perfect absorber by exciting multi-order diffractions in a double-layered grating structure

Terahertz (THz) perfect absorber, as a useful functional device, has attracted considerable attention. Traditional metamaterial perfect absorbers are usually in response to single-frequency or multi-frequency owing to the resonance features of the metal-based sub-wavelength structure. In this paper, a simple double-layered doped-silicon grating structure was designed to realize an ultra-broadband and polarization-independent THz perfect absorber. Both theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that the incident THz waves ranging from 0.59 to 2.58 THz can be efficiently absorbed with an absorptivity of more than 95% and a bandwidth of about 2.0 THz. The excellent characteristic of this broad-bandwidth THz perfect absorber is mainly resulted from the air gap mode resonance together with the first-order and the second-order grating diffractions. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America