Total absorption of visible light in ultrathin weakly absorbing semiconductor gratings

Björn C.P. Sturmberg; Teck K. Chong; Duk Yong Choi; Thomas P. White; Lindsay C. Botten; Kokou B. Dossou; Christopher G. Poulton; Kylie R. Catchpole; Ross C. McPhedran; C. Martijn de Sterke

doi:10.1364/OPTICA.3.000556

Total absorption of visible light in ultrathin weakly absorbing semiconductor gratings

Björn C.P. Sturmberg^*, Teck K. Chong, Duk Yong Choi, Thomas P. White, Lindsay C. Botten, Kokou B. Dossou, Christopher G. Poulton, Kylie R. Catchpole, Ross C. McPhedran, C. Martijn de Sterke

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

46 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The perfect absorption of light in subwavelength thickness layers generally relies on exotic materials, metamaterials or thick metallic gratings. Here we demonstrate that total light absorption can be achieved in ultra-thin gratings composed of conventional materials, including relatively weakly-absorbing semiconductors, which are compatible with optoelectronic applications such as photodetectors and optical modulators. We fabricate a 41 nm thick antimony sulphide grating structure that has a measured absorptance of A = 99.3% at a visible wavelength of 591 nm, in excellent agreement with theory. We infer that the absorption within the grating is A = 98.7%, with only A = 0.6% within the silver mirror. A planar reference sample absorbs A = 7.7% at this wavelength.

Original language	English
Article number	259171
Pages (from-to)	556-562
Number of pages	7
Journal	Optica
Volume	3
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.3.000556
Publication status	Published - 20 Jun 2016

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title = "Total absorption of visible light in ultrathin weakly absorbing semiconductor gratings",

abstract = "The perfect absorption of light in subwavelength thickness layers generally relies on exotic materials, metamaterials or thick metallic gratings. Here we demonstrate that total light absorption can be achieved in ultra-thin gratings composed of conventional materials, including relatively weakly-absorbing semiconductors, which are compatible with optoelectronic applications such as photodetectors and optical modulators. We fabricate a 41 nm thick antimony sulphide grating structure that has a measured absorptance of A = 99.3% at a visible wavelength of 591 nm, in excellent agreement with theory. We infer that the absorption within the grating is A = 98.7%, with only A = 0.6% within the silver mirror. A planar reference sample absorbs A = 7.7% at this wavelength.",

author = "Sturmberg, {Bj{\"o}rn C.P.} and Chong, {Teck K.} and Choi, {Duk Yong} and White, {Thomas P.} and Botten, {Lindsay C.} and Dossou, {Kokou B.} and Poulton, {Christopher G.} and Catchpole, {Kylie R.} and McPhedran, {Ross C.} and {de Sterke}, {C. Martijn}",

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doi = "10.1364/OPTICA.3.000556",

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T1 - Total absorption of visible light in ultrathin weakly absorbing semiconductor gratings

AU - Sturmberg, Björn C.P.

AU - Chong, Teck K.

AU - Choi, Duk Yong

AU - White, Thomas P.

AU - Botten, Lindsay C.

AU - Dossou, Kokou B.

AU - Poulton, Christopher G.

AU - Catchpole, Kylie R.

AU - McPhedran, Ross C.

AU - de Sterke, C. Martijn

PY - 2016/6/20

Y1 - 2016/6/20

N2 - The perfect absorption of light in subwavelength thickness layers generally relies on exotic materials, metamaterials or thick metallic gratings. Here we demonstrate that total light absorption can be achieved in ultra-thin gratings composed of conventional materials, including relatively weakly-absorbing semiconductors, which are compatible with optoelectronic applications such as photodetectors and optical modulators. We fabricate a 41 nm thick antimony sulphide grating structure that has a measured absorptance of A = 99.3% at a visible wavelength of 591 nm, in excellent agreement with theory. We infer that the absorption within the grating is A = 98.7%, with only A = 0.6% within the silver mirror. A planar reference sample absorbs A = 7.7% at this wavelength.

AB - The perfect absorption of light in subwavelength thickness layers generally relies on exotic materials, metamaterials or thick metallic gratings. Here we demonstrate that total light absorption can be achieved in ultra-thin gratings composed of conventional materials, including relatively weakly-absorbing semiconductors, which are compatible with optoelectronic applications such as photodetectors and optical modulators. We fabricate a 41 nm thick antimony sulphide grating structure that has a measured absorptance of A = 99.3% at a visible wavelength of 591 nm, in excellent agreement with theory. We infer that the absorption within the grating is A = 98.7%, with only A = 0.6% within the silver mirror. A planar reference sample absorbs A = 7.7% at this wavelength.

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DO - 10.1364/OPTICA.3.000556

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JO - Optica

JF - Optica

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ER -

Total absorption of visible light in ultrathin weakly absorbing semiconductor gratings

Abstract

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