Large-scale fabrication of an ultrathin broadband absorber using quasi-random dielectric Mie resonators

Ultrathin broadband absorber maintaining a near-uniform low reflectivity over a broadband wavelength is essential for many optical applications, such as light harvesting and nanoscale imaging. Recently, there has been considerable interest in employing arrays of high-index dielectric Mie resonators on surfaces to trap light and reduce the reflectivity. For such Mie-resonant metasurfaces, however, antireflection properties featuring both a flat low reflectance curve and a wide bandwidth are hard to be satisfied simultaneously, and an efficient large-scale nanofabrication technique rarely exists. Here, we present a high-throughput laser interference induced quasi-random patterning (LIIQP) technique to fabricate quasi-random Mie resonators in large scale. Mie resonators with feature sizes down to sub-100 nm have been fabricated using a 1064 nm laser source. Each Mie resonator concentrates light at its shape-dependent resonant frequency, and all such resonators are arranged quasi-randomly to provide both rich (with broadband Fourier components) and strong (with large intensities) Fourier spectra. Specifically, a near-uniform broadband reflectivity over 400-1100 nm spectrum region has been confined below 3% by fabricating a large-scale ultrathin (around 400 nm) absorber. Our concept and high-throughput fabrication technique allows the rapid production of quasi-random dielectric Mie-resonant metasurfaces in a controllable way, which can be used in various promising applications including thin-film solar cells, display, and imaging. (c) 2023 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

Ultrathin broadband absorbers with a near-uniform low reflectivity play a crucial role in optical applications. A new technique for large-scale fabrication of quasi-random Mie resonators using a high-throughput laser interference induced quasi-random patterning (LIIQP) technique is presented. The fabricated ultrathin absorber exhibits a near-uniform broadband reflectivity below 3% over a 400-1100 nm spectrum region. This technique enables the rapid production of quasi-random dielectric Mie-resonant metasurfaces with promising applications in thin-film solar cells, display, and imaging.