Coupling of Epsilon-Near-Zero Mode to Mushroom-Type Metamaterial for Optimizing Infrared Suppression and Radiative Cooling

Abstract

We report a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible metamaterial-based spectrally selective absorber/emitter (MBSSAE) for infrared (IR) stealth, which has the low absorption/emissivity in the IR atmospheric transmission window (3 µm–5 µm, 8 µm–14 µm) and ultra-high and broadband absorption/emissivity in the IR non-atmospheric window (5 µm–8 µm). We propose a novel method for the broadband absorption/emissivity in 5 µm–8 µm with incorporation of an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) material between the top patterned aluminum (Al) disks layer and the silicon oxide (SiO₂) spacer layer. With an appropriate design, the peaks in the IR atmospheric transmission window can be suppressed while the peak intensity in the non-atmospheric window remains high. The optimized MBSSAE has an average absorption/emissivity less than 10% in 8 µm–14 µm and less than 6% in 3 µm–5 µm. And the average absorption/emissivity in 5 µm–8 µm is approximately over 64%. This proposed scheme may introduce the opportunities for the large-area and low-cost infrared stealth coating, as well as for the radiative cooling, spectral selective thermal detector, optical sensor, and thermophotovoltaic applications.

Keywords

Metamaterials / infrared stealth / ENZ mode / Rabi splitting / broadband thermal emitter

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