Polarization-insensitive metamaterial perfect absorber in near-infrared band based on trapezoidal silver array

Abstract In this article, we presented our proposal for a metamaterial perfect absorber (MPA) operating in the near-infrared band. Our MPA comprised a trapezoidal silver layer, a substrate layer, and an intermediate alumina layer. The transmission characteristics of MPA were analyzed by the three-dimensional (3D) finite difference time domain method. The simulation results were analyzed by equivalent circuit theory. The results show that the MPA achieved 100% absorption of transverse magnetic (TM) polarization and transverse electric (TE) polarization with resonance wavelength λ = 1492.5 nm. By varying the length of the bottom side of the trapezoid, the MPA’s resonance wavelength could be effectively tuned, and the absorption was maintained at above 99%. With the incidence angle of 0°–55°, the absorption remains above 90% at TE polarization and above 80% at 55°–70°. The absorption at the TM polarization remains above 99% when the incident angle is 0°–70°. A wide angle of incidence and good absorption were achieved. The sensitivity (S) and figure of merit were 228 nm/refractive index unit and 1378 RIU −1 , respectively. The proposed absorber with excellent absorption in the range of infrared spectra has a promising application potential in fields such as energy harvesting and infrared sensors.