VO2 based dynamic tunable absorber and its application in switchable control and real-time color display in the visible region

Metasurface-based near perfect absorbers exhibit a wide range of potential applications in the fields of solar energy harvesting, thermal images and sensors due to their unique absorption regulation function. However, absorption characteristics of devices are locked by the device structure, leading to the limitation in real-time dynamic applications. In this work, we integrate the phase change material VO 2 thin film into the metal-insulator-metal structured metasurface based absorber, and design a fully visible band switchable dynamically tunable absorber (DTA). By controlling the phase transition of VO 2 , the DTA can realize a novel switch function in the full band of visible light (400 ∼ 780 nm), with absorption contrast ranges from 42% to 60%. Furthermore, via accurate structural parameter control, the vivid cyan, magenta, and yellow pixels based on the VO 2 DTA are designed and proposed in the real-time optical anti-counterfeiting, exhibiting outstanding characteristics of anti-glare interference and real-time encryption ability. The absorption spectrum and local electric field are simulated and analyzed to study the internal operation mechanism of DTA. The dynamic absorption adjustable function is attributed to the synergistic effect of insulator-metal transition of VO 2 and Fabry–Pérot resonance of absorber.