ABSTRACT
In this work, a tunable dual-band near-infrared perfect metamaterial absorber formed by combining a highly birefringent nematic liquid crystal with a nanoscale metamaterial cavity arranged in mirror symmetry is designed and numerically investigated. Electromagnetic simulations indicate that the absorbance greater than 99.4% may be achieved at 328 THz and 364 THz. Perfect absorbance results both form the use of highly lossy metal and the optimization of the metamaterial structure. In addition, absorbance of the metamaterial device can be substantially tuned both in terms of its magnitude and wavelength with the spectral tunability up to 8 THz by switching of liquid crystal alignment. The soft-matter-based metamaterial absorbers may pave a crucial role towards various active multifunctional systems working in the near-infrared range.
GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Dr. Marek Olifierczuk of the Institute of Applied Physics MUT for valuable comments.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.