Self-Assembly Based Plasmonic Arrays Tuned by Atomic
Layer Deposition for Extreme Visible Light Absorption
Carl Hägglund
Gabriel Zeltzer
Ricardo Ruiz
Isabell Thomann
Han-Bo-Ram Lee
Mark L. Brongersma
Stacey F. Bent
10.1021/nl401641v.s001
https://acs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Self_Assembly_Based_Plasmonic_Arrays_Tuned_by_Atomic_Layer_Deposition_for_Extreme_Visible_Light_Absorption/2397496
Achieving
complete absorption of visible light with a minimal amount
of material is highly desirable for many applications, including solar
energy conversion to fuel and electricity, where benefits in conversion
efficiency and economy can be obtained. On a fundamental level, it
is of great interest to explore whether the ultimate limits in light
absorption per unit volume can be achieved by capitalizing on the
advances in metamaterial science and nanosynthesis. Here, we combine
block copolymer lithography and atomic layer deposition to tune the
effective optical properties of a plasmonic array at the atomic scale.
Critical coupling to the resulting nanocomposite layer is accomplished
through guidance by a simple analytical model and measurements by
spectroscopic ellipsometry. Thereby, a maximized absorption of light
exceeding 99% is accomplished, of which up to about 93% occurs in
a volume-equivalent thickness of gold of only 1.6 nm. This corresponds
to a record effective absorption coefficient of 1.7 × 10<sup>7</sup> cm<sup>–1</sup> in the visible region, far exceeding
those of solid metals, graphene, dye monolayers, and thin film solar
cell materials. It is more than a factor of 2 higher than that previously
obtained using a critically coupled dye J-aggregate, with a peak width
exceeding the latter by 1 order of magnitude. These results thereby
substantially push the limits for light harvesting in ultrathin, nanoengineered
systems.
2013-07-10 00:00:00
nanoengineered systems
Atomic Layer Deposition
layer deposition
absorption coefficient
unit volume
light absorption
energy conversion
nanocomposite layer
1.6 nm
spectroscopic ellipsometry
peak width
dye monolayers
metamaterial science
block copolymer lithography
light harvesting
conversion efficiency
cell materials
Extreme Visible Light AbsorptionAchieving
plasmonic array
Plasmonic Arrays Tuned
1 order