Mid-infrared chiral metasurface absorbers with split-ellipse structures

Natural chiral materials usually have very weak circular dichroism (CD) responses. Here, we design and demonstrate one type of mid-infrared chiral metasurface absorber with strong chiroptical effects, which can achieve high CD in absorption above 0.57 over the wavelength range of 5 to 5 . 9 μ m . The maximum absorption of the chiral metasurface absorber under circularly polarized light can reach 0.90 and the maximum CD in absorption is 0.63. Meanwhile, the chiral resonance wavelength and the CD value can be tuned by varying the geometric parameters of the metasurface. A thermal analysis of the metasurface absorber further shows the strong connection between CD in absorption and temperature difference. The demonstrated chiral metasurface absorbers can be used in many promising applications such as molecular sensing, thermophotovoltaics and chiral spectroscopy. • Chiral metasurfaces with split-ellipse structures. • Strong chiroptical effects over the mid-infrared range. • The maximum circular dichroism in absorption is 0.63. • Tunable chiral resonance wavelength and circular dichroism value. • Linear relationship between circular dichroism value and temperature difference.