Triple-layer Fabry-Perot/SPP aluminum absorber in the visible and near-infrared region

We report a theoretical study on a novel type of absorber that can achieve near perfect absorption in the visible and near-infrared regions by utilizing the Fabry-Perot and the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) effects. The absorber consists of an Al/dielectric/Al triple-layered structure with the top Al layer consisting of an array of holes. The absorption features can be easily controlled by tuning the structural parameters, particularly the porous features of the top Al layer. When the porous features in the top Al layer are significantly smaller than the wavelength, light absorption is enabled through the Fabry-Perot effect. On the other hand, when the porous features in the top layer are at the subwavelength scale, new absorption peaks emerge due to the SPP effect. Furthermore, when the top Al layer consists of an array of hollow rings, the electric field at the interface between the top Al layer and the middle dielectric layer is greatly enhanced due to the plasmonic effect, indicating that the absorber reported here may be suitable for novel applications, e.g., the surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America