Polarization-independent broad-band nearly perfect absorbers in the visible regime

Polarization-independent broad-band absorbers in the visible regime are theoretically investigated. The absorbers are three-layered structures consisting of a lossy dielectric grating on top of a low-loss dielectric layer and a substrate of the same lossy dielectric placed at the bottom. Enhanced absorption in the underlying structure is attained over a broad range of frequency for both TE and TM polarizations. In particular, a nearly perfect absorbance (over 99.6%) is achieved at lambda approximate to 600 nm, around which the absorption spectra show a substantial overlap between two polarizations. The enhanced absorption is attributed to cavity resonance and its hybridization with a weakly bound surface wave. This feature is illustrated with the electric field patterns and time-averaged power loss density associated with the resonances. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America