title: Broadband and mid-infrared absorber based on dielectric-thin metal film multilayers.
abstract: We propose a periodic multilayer structure of dielectric and metal interlayers to achieve a near-perfect broadband absorber of mid-infrared radiation. We examine the influence of four factors on its performance: (1) the interlayer metal conductance, (2) the number of dielectric layers, (3) a nanopatterned antireflective layer, and (4) a reflective metallic bottom layer for backreflection. Absorption characteristics greater than 99% of the 300 K and 500 K blackbody spectra are found for the optimized structures. Incident angle and polarization dependence of the absorption spectra are examined. We also investigate the possibility of fabricating a nanopatterned antireflective layer to maximize absorption.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA. tdcorrigan@concord.edu
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Corrigan
authors.forename: Dong Hun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: H Dennis
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Drew
authors.forename: Shy-Hauh
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Paul W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Kolb
authors.forename: Warren N
authors.initials: WN
authors.lastname: Herman
authors.forename: Raymond J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Phaneuf