Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Highly band-selective meta-surfaces exhibiting perfect near infrared absorption and concurrent visible band sensing: A numerical study

  • Article
  • Published:
Science China Technological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We report a highly band-selective, bifunctional meta-surface that serves as an ultra-wide perfect absorber for near-infrared (NIR) band and a visible-band sensor, based on a rational design strategy involving stacking and/or grating of metals, inorganic insulators, and stimuli-responsive materials. PNIPAAm-based hydrogel was utilized as a layer of stimuli-responsive insulator, which is allowed to reversibly swell and collapse in one dimension in response to stimuli such as ambient temperature and chemical environment to empower the sensing capability in the visible band, with the perfect absorption in NIR region intact. The average absorption reached an impressive 99.4% from 780 to 2500 nm, which is attributed to the synergy of localized surface plasmon (LSP), propagating surface plasmon (PSP), and cavity mode. The reported bi-functional meta-surface is particularly attractive for band-selective solar energy harvesting, naked-eye sensing, and adaptive imaging.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lu L, Joannopoulos J D, Soljačić M. Topological photonics. Nat Photon, 2014, 8: 821–829

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Lu Y, Zhu Y, Chen Y, et al. Optical properties of an ionic-type phononic crystal. Science, 1999, 284: 1822–1824

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Jahani S, Jacob Z. All-dielectric metamaterials. Nat Nanotech, 2016, 11: 23–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Kildishev A V, Boltasseva A, Shalaev V M. Planar photonics with metasurfaces. Science, 2013, 339: 1232009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. High A A, Devlin R C, Dibos A, et al. Visible-frequency hyperbolic metasurface. Nature, 2015, 522: 192–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Guo C F, Sun T, Cao F, et al. Metallic nanostructures for light trapping in energy-harvesting devices. Light Sci Appl, 2014, 3: e161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Watts C M, Liu X L, Padilla W J. Metamaterial electromagnetic wave absorbers. Adv Mater, 2012, 24: OP98–OP120

    Google Scholar 

  8. Pendry J B, Schurig D, Smith D R. Controlling electromagnetic fields. Science, 2006, 312: 1780–1782

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  9. Liu R P, Zhao Z Y, Ji C L, et al. Metamaterials beyond negative refractive index: Applications in telecommunication and sensing. Sci China Tech Sci, 2016, 59: 1007–1011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Rechtsman M C, Zeuner J M, Plotnik Y, et al. Photonic floquet topological insulators. Nature, 2013, 496: 196–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. He C, Chen X L, Lu M H, et al. Tunable one-way cross-waveguide splitter based on gyromagnetic photonic crystal. Appl Phys Lett, 2010, 96: 121133

    Google Scholar 

  12. Wang W, Zhao Z, Zou Q, et al. Self-adaptive radiative cooling and solar heating based on a compound metasurface. J Mater Chem C, 2020, 8: 3192–3199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Fang Y, Hou Y B, Lou Z D, et al. Surface plasmonic effect and scattering effect of au nanorods on the performance of polymer bulk heterojunction solar cells. Sci China Tech Sci, 2013, 56: 1865–1869

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Zhang P, Biligetu P, Qi D X, et al. Mechanical design and energy absorption of 3d novel hybrid lattice metamaterials. Sci China Tech Sci, 2021, 64: 2220–2228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Luo Y, Ying X, Pu Y, et al. Infrared metasurface made of composite right-left handed transmission-line. Appl Phys Lett, 2016, 108: 231103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Laroche M, Carminati R, Greffet J J. Near-field thermophotovoltaic energy conversion. J Appl Phys, 2006, 100: 77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Chen W, Liu J, Ma W Z, et al. Numerical study of multilayer planar film structures for ideal absorption in the entire solar spectrum. Appl Sci, 2020, 10: 3276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Lin C H, Chern R L, Lin H Y. Polarization-independent broad-band nearly perfect absorbers in the visible regime. Opt Express, 2011, 19: 415–424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Lee J, Lim S. Bandwidth-enhanced and polarisation-insensitive metamaterial absorber using double resonance. Electron Lett, 2011, 47: 8–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Wu D, Liu Y, Xu Z, et al. Numerical study of the wide-angle polarization-independent ultra-broadband efficient selective solar absorber in the entire solar spectrum (solar RRL 7/2017). Sol RRL, 2017, 1: 1770126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Nguyen D M, Lee D, Rho J. Control of light absorbance using plasmonic grating based perfect absorber at visible and near-infrared wavelengths. Sci Rep, 2017, 7: 2611

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Li Y, Liu Z, Zhang H, et al. Ultra-broadband perfect absorber utilizing refractory materials in metal-insulator composite multilayer stacks. Opt Express, 2019, 27: 11809–11818

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Cai H, Sun Y, Wang X, et al. Design of an ultra-broadband near-perfect bilayer grating metamaterial absorber based on genetic algorithm. Opt Express, 2020, 28: 15347–15359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Yu Z Y, Xu F, Lin X W, et al. Tunable broadband isolator based on electro-optically induced linear gratings in a nonlinear photonic crystal. Opt Lett, 2010, 35: 3327–3329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Qian X, Wu H, Wang Q, et al. Electro-optic tunable optical isolator in periodically poled LiNbO3. J Appl Phys, 2011, 109: 053111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Tam R Y, Smith L J, Shoichet M S. Engineering cellular microenvironments with photo- and enzymatically responsive hydrogels: Toward biomimetic 3D cell culture models. Acc Chem Res, 2017, 50: 703–713

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Ahmed E M. Hydrogel: Preparation, characterization, and applications: A review. J Adv Res, 2015, 6: 105–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Gil E, Hudson S. Stimuli-reponsive polymers and their bioconjugates. Prog Polym Sci, 2004, 29: 1173–1222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Qin M, Sun M, Hua M, et al. Bioinspired structural color sensors based on responsive soft materials. Curr Opin Solid State Mater Sci, 2019, 23: 13–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Ehrenhofer A, Wallmersperger T. A normalization concept for smart material actuation by the example of hydrogels. Proc Appl Math Mech, 2018, 18: e201800176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Gisbert Quilis N, van Dongen M, Venugopalan P, et al. Actively tunable collective localized surface plasmons by responsive hydrogel membrane. Adv Opt Mater, 2019, 7: 1900342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Chen Y. Nanofabrication by electron beam lithography and its applications: A review. MicroElectron Eng, 2015, 135: 57–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Campo A, Greiner C. Su-8: A photoresist for high-aspect-ratio and 3d submicron lithography. J Micromech Microeng, 2007, 17: R81–R95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Han W H, Wang Y Z, Su J M, et al. Fabrication of nanofibrous sensors by electrospinning. Sci China Tech Sci, 2019, 62: 886–894

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Palik E D. Handbook of Optical Constants of Solids. American: Academic Press, 1998

    Google Scholar 

  36. Toma M, Jonas U, Mateescu A, et al. Active control of spr by thermoresponsive hydrogels for biosensor applications. J Phys Chem C, 2013, 117: 11705–11712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Sai H, Kanamori Y, Yugami H. Tuning of the thermal radiation spectrum in the near-infrared region by metallic surface microstructures. J Micromech Microeng, 2005, 15: S243–S249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Liu J, Ma W Z, Chen W, et al. Numerical analysis of an ultra-wideband metamaterial absorber with high absorptivity from visible light to near-infrared. Opt Express, 2020, 28: 23748–23760

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Lei L, Li S, Huang H, et al. Ultra-broadband absorber from visible to near-infrared using plasmonic metamaterial. Opt Express, 2018, 26: 5686–5693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Ding F, Dai J, Chen Y, et al. Broadband near-infrared metamaterial absorbers utilizing highly lossy metals. Sci Rep, 2016, 6: 39445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Wang H, Wang L. Perfect selective metamaterial solar absorbers. Opt Express, 2013, 21: A1078

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Yang J, Sauvan C, Jouanin A, et al. Ultrasmall metal-insulator-metal nanoresonators: Impact of slow-wave effects on the quality factor. Opt Express, 2012, 20: 16880–16891

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Brasse Y, Müller M B, Karg M, et al. Magnetic and electric resonances in particle-to-film-coupled functional nanostructures. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces, 2018, 10: 3133–3141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Sharma N, Keshmiri H, Zhou X, et al. Tunable plasmonic nanohole arrays actuated by a thermoresponsive hydrogel cushion. J Phys Chem C, 2016, 120: 561–568

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Kawa T, Numata G, Lee H, et al. Temperature sensing based on multimodal interference in plastic optical fibers: Sensitivity enhancement by annealing. In: Proceedings of the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Pacific Rim (CLEO-PR), 2017. s1486

  46. Qin M, Sun M, Bai R, et al. Bioinspired hydrogel interferometer for adaptive coloration and chemical sensing. Adv Mater, 2018, 30: e1800468

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Clare T L. Hydrogel sensors for detection of metal ions. US Patent, 2020019175A1, 2020-06-18

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Interdisciplinary Research Center for Engineering Science, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    ZhiJie Lei, XiaoShi Qian, Kun Jiang & Guang Meng

Authors
  1. ZhiJie Lei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. XiaoShi Qian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kun Jiang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Guang Meng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to XiaoShi Qian.

Additional information

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (Grant No. 20ZR1471700), the Oceanic Interdisciplinary Program of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Grant No. SL2020MS009), and the Prospective Research Program at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Grant No. 19X160010008). Xiaoshi Qian thanks the student innovation center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University for the support of computational facility.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lei, Z., Qian, X., Jiang, K. et al. Highly band-selective meta-surfaces exhibiting perfect near infrared absorption and concurrent visible band sensing: A numerical study. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 65, 809–816 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-021-1982-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-021-1982-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation