Near Perfect Absorber for Long-Wave Infrared Based on Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance

In recent years, broadband absorbers in the long-wave infrared (LWIR) spectrum have shown great scientific value and advantages in some areas, such as thermal imaging and radiation modulation. However, designing a broadband absorber with an ultra-high absorption rate has always been a challenge. In this paper, we design a near perfect absorber that is highly tunable, angle insensitive, and has polarization independence for LWIR. By using multi-mode localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of a surface metal structure, the absorber achieves a very high absorption average of 99.7% in wavelengths from 9.7 mu m to 12.0 mu m. For incident light, the meta-structure absorber exhibits excellent polarization independence. When the incident angle increases from 0 degrees up to 60 degrees, the absorption rate maintains over 85%. By modulating the size of the structure, the meta-structure absorber can also achieve a high absorption rate of 95.6%, covering the entire LWIR band (8-14 mu m in wavelength). This meta-structure absorber has application prospects in infrared detecting, infrared camouflage, radiation cooling, and other fields.

Automated summary

This paper presents the design of a near perfect absorber in the long-wave infrared spectrum, which is highly tunable, angle insensitive, and has polarization independence. By utilizing the multi-mode localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of a surface metal structure, this absorber achieves a very high absorption rate in a wide range of wavelengths. It shows great potential in various applications such as infrared detecting, infrared camouflage, and radiation cooling.