Design of Optical Metamaterial Mirror with Metallic Nanoparticles for Broadband Light Absorption in Graphene Optoelectronic Devices

Abstract: A general metallic mirror (i.e., a flat metallic surface) has been a popular optical component that can contribute broadband light absorption to thin-film optoelectronic devices; nonetheless, such electric mirror with a reversal of reflection phase inevitably causes the problem of minimized electric field near at the mirror surface (maximized electric field at one quarter of wavelength from mirror). This problem becomes more elucidated, when the deep-subwavelength-scaled two-dimensional (2D) material (e.g., graphene and molybdenum disulfide) is implemented into optoelectronic device as an active channel layer. The purpose of this work was to conceive the idea for using a charge storage layer (spherical Au nanoparticles (AuNPs), embedded into dielectric matrix) of the floating-gate graphene photodetector as a magnetic mirror, which allows the device to harness the increase in broadband light absorption. In particular, we systematically examined whether the versatile assembly of spherical AuNP monolayer within a dielectric matrix (i.e., optical metamaterial mirror), which should be designed to be placed right below the graphene channel layer for floating-gate device, can be indeed treated as the effective magnetic mirror. In addition to being capable of the enhancement of broadband light absorption, versatile access to various structural motifs of AuNPs benefitting from recent advances in chemical synthesis promises compelling opportunities for sophisticated engineering of optical metamaterial mirror. High amenability of the AuNP assembly with the semiconductor-related procedures may make this strategy widely applicable to various thin film optoelectronic devices. Our study thereby illustrates advantages in advancing the design of mirror for rational engineering of light-matter interaction within deep-subwavelength-scaled optoelectronic devices.