Total light absorption in a wide range of incidence by nanostructured metals without plasmons

Metals structured by nanocavities have recently been demonstrated to efficiently absorb light in a wide range of angles of incidence. It has been assumed that nanovoid plasmons are at the origin of the strong absorption. It is shown that it is possible to totally absorb incident light without plasmons. To avoid their excitation, a diffraction grating consisting of cylindrical cavities in a metallic substrate is illuminated in transverse electric polarization. It is found that cylindrical cavities can sustain cavity resonances with a high enhancement of the light intensity, provoking a total absorption of light in a wide range of incidence. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America