Combined role of polarization matching and critical coupling in enhanced absorption of 2D materials based on metamaterials

Since 2D materials are typically much more efficient to absorb in-plane polarized light than out-of-plane polarized light, keeping the light polarization in-plane at the 2D material is revealed to be a crucial factor other than critical coupling in light absorption enhancement in a 2D material integrated with a light coupling structure. When the composite of a metal-insulator-metal structure and a 2D material changes from the magnetic resonator formto the metasurface Salisbury screen one, the field polarization at the 2D material changes from a mainly out-of-plane status to a mainly in-plane status. As a result, for graphene, the absorptance enhancement is increased by 1.6 to 4.2 times, the bandwidth enlarged by 3.6 to 6.4 times, and the metal loss suppressed by 7.4 to 24 times in the mid- to far-infrared range, leading to the absorptance of graphene approaching 90% in the mid-infrared regime and 100% in the THz regime. For monolayer black phosphorus, the absorptance enhancement at the wavelength of 3.5 mu m is increased by 5.4 times, and the bandwidth enlarged by 1.8 times. For monolayer MoS2, the averaged absorptance in the visible-near infrared range is enhanced by 4.4 times from 15.5% to 68.1%. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

Maintaining light polarization in-plane is crucial for efficient light absorption in 2D materials. Transitioning from a magnetic resonator form to a metasurface Salisbury screen enhances absorption efficiency and bandwidth, especially for graphene, monolayer black phosphorus, and monolayer MoS2.