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Graphene-based electromechanically tunable subwavelength mid-IR perfect absorber

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Abstract

In this article, we propose and numerically investigate a graphene-based electromechanically tunable perfect absorber design. The fundamental motivation is to demonstrate the electromechanically tunable feature in graphene metasurface at the mid-infrared regime, which otherwise exploited only the chemical potential feature in the literature. The structure consists of a gold grating on a gold substrate separated by an oxide spacer with an overlay of monolayer graphene with free-standing segments. By applying external DC voltages, the free-standing region of the graphene layer deflects, owing to the electrostatic force it experiences. This shifts the resonance absorption wavelength. In the mid-infrared region of 5–10 µm, a very low actuation voltage of 1.6 V displaces the graphene membrane by 1 nm, resulting in a wide shift of 60 nm in resonance wavelength. A continuous tunability with near-perfect absorption over a wavelength range of 200 nm for an applied voltage of only 7 V is demonstrated. At a voltage greater than 7 V, a mode hopping phenomenon is observed, hampering the perfect absorber operations with a shift in wavelengths. It is shown that the perfect absorption is again retained at some higher voltage. Such implementations hold promising applications in nanophotonics sensors, detectors, real-time beam steering, etc.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur under the Institute Scheme for Innovative Research and Development (ISIRD). The authors also acknowledge Mr Souvik Mondal, Ph.D. student of the Department of E & EC, IIT Kharagpur, for developing the 3D graphical image of the device schematic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur, West Bengal, 721302, India

    Shuvajit Roy & Kapil Debnath

  2. School of Natural and Computing Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, UK

    Kapil Debnath

  3. School of Engineering, Sister Nivedita University (Techno India Group), New Town, Kolkata, 700156, India

    Shuvajit Roy

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  1. Shuvajit Roy
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Roy, S., Debnath, K. Graphene-based electromechanically tunable subwavelength mid-IR perfect absorber. Opt Quant Electron 55, 1246 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-023-05514-0

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