title: Ultra-broadband and strongly enhanced diffraction with metasurfaces.
abstract: Enhanced high-order diffractions which are spatially dispersive are desirable in such as spectroscopy studies, thin-film solar cells, etc. Conventionally, the dielectric gratings can be used to realize the enhanced diffraction, but the facets are usually rugged and optically thick (~μm). Plasmonic materials may exhibit unprecedented ability for manipulating light. Nonetheless, much interest has been focused on the subwavelength metasurfaces working in the zero-order regime. Here, we show that ultra-broadband and strongly enhanced diffraction can be achieved with the super-wavelength metasurfaces. For the purpose, we employ symmetric or asymmetric metal patches on a ground metal plane, which support the localized oscillation of free electrons and enhanced scattering of light. The zero-order reflection is suppressed, giving rise to an enhancement of first-order diffraction (50 ~ 95%) in an ultra-wide bandwidth (600 ~ 1500 nm). The proposed plasmonic structure is planar and ultra-thin (with an etching depth of only 80 nm), showing new potential for constructing compact and efficient dispersive elements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 210009, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jia-qi
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Qian-jin
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 210009, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Cheng-ping
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Huang