Broadband Omnidirectional Nearly Perfect Plasmonic Absorber For Solar Energy Harvesting

In this paper, an efficient, broadband, omnidirectional visible plasmonic absorber is presented and numerically simulated using the rigorous three-dimensional finite difference time domain (FDTD) method and the 2-D finite element method. The proposed absorber comprises hollow cylindrical layers of a...

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Main Authors: Nihal F. F. Areed, Sameh Mohamed El Malt, Salah S. A Obayya
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2016-01-01
Series:IEEE Photonics Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7580638/
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author Nihal F. F. Areed
Sameh Mohamed El Malt
Salah S. A Obayya
author_facet Nihal F. F. Areed
Sameh Mohamed El Malt
Salah S. A Obayya
author_sort Nihal F. F. Areed
collection DOAJ
description In this paper, an efficient, broadband, omnidirectional visible plasmonic absorber is presented and numerically simulated using the rigorous three-dimensional finite difference time domain (FDTD) method and the 2-D finite element method. The proposed absorber comprises hollow cylindrical layers of aluminum (Al) and silicon dioxide ( <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\rm{SiO}}_{{2}}$</tex-math></inline-formula>). Arranging the geometry and adjusting the dimensions of the cylindrical layers generate localized plasmonic modes at the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\rm{Al/ SiO}}_{{2}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> interfaces, as well as inside the gap between two Al layers, and thereby, strong optical confinement in the visible range is allowed. Therefore, the light absorbance of over 93&#x0025; is observed over the whole visible regime with a relative bandwidth from 0.4 to 0.75 PHz. Further, due to the cylindrical geometry, the absorption is almost independent on the incident angles in a wide range (&#x2013;90&#x00B0; to 90&#x00B0;). Two elements of the proposed absorber have been employed to function as a nanoantenna for converting the solar energy to electricity. The proposed nanoantenna offers omnidirectional harvesting characteristics with efficient harvesting efficiency that is higher than that of the conventional rectangular dipole nanoantenna by about 38&#x0025;.
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spelling doaj-art-2cf5130e2a3243d4aed2b88e077899e92025-08-20T02:38:09ZengIEEEIEEE Photonics Journal1943-06552016-01-018511810.1109/JPHOT.2016.26116577580638Broadband Omnidirectional Nearly Perfect Plasmonic Absorber For Solar Energy HarvestingNihal F. F. Areed0Sameh Mohamed El Malt1Salah S. A Obayya2Centre for Photonics and Smart Materials, Zewail City of Science and Technology, 6th of October City, EgyptCentre for Photonics and Smart Materials, Zewail City of Science and Technology, 6th of October City, EgyptCentre for Photonics and Smart Materials, Zewail City of Science and Technology, 6th of October City, EgyptIn this paper, an efficient, broadband, omnidirectional visible plasmonic absorber is presented and numerically simulated using the rigorous three-dimensional finite difference time domain (FDTD) method and the 2-D finite element method. The proposed absorber comprises hollow cylindrical layers of aluminum (Al) and silicon dioxide ( <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\rm{SiO}}_{{2}}$</tex-math></inline-formula>). Arranging the geometry and adjusting the dimensions of the cylindrical layers generate localized plasmonic modes at the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\rm{Al/ SiO}}_{{2}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> interfaces, as well as inside the gap between two Al layers, and thereby, strong optical confinement in the visible range is allowed. Therefore, the light absorbance of over 93&#x0025; is observed over the whole visible regime with a relative bandwidth from 0.4 to 0.75 PHz. Further, due to the cylindrical geometry, the absorption is almost independent on the incident angles in a wide range (&#x2013;90&#x00B0; to 90&#x00B0;). Two elements of the proposed absorber have been employed to function as a nanoantenna for converting the solar energy to electricity. The proposed nanoantenna offers omnidirectional harvesting characteristics with efficient harvesting efficiency that is higher than that of the conventional rectangular dipole nanoantenna by about 38&#x0025;.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7580638/Plasmonic absorberfinite difference time domain (FDTD)finite element method (FEM)nano-antenna
spellingShingle Nihal F. F. Areed
Sameh Mohamed El Malt
Salah S. A Obayya
Broadband Omnidirectional Nearly Perfect Plasmonic Absorber For Solar Energy Harvesting
IEEE Photonics Journal
Plasmonic absorber
finite difference time domain (FDTD)
finite element method (FEM)
nano-antenna
title Broadband Omnidirectional Nearly Perfect Plasmonic Absorber For Solar Energy Harvesting
title_full Broadband Omnidirectional Nearly Perfect Plasmonic Absorber For Solar Energy Harvesting
title_fullStr Broadband Omnidirectional Nearly Perfect Plasmonic Absorber For Solar Energy Harvesting
title_full_unstemmed Broadband Omnidirectional Nearly Perfect Plasmonic Absorber For Solar Energy Harvesting
title_short Broadband Omnidirectional Nearly Perfect Plasmonic Absorber For Solar Energy Harvesting
title_sort broadband omnidirectional nearly perfect plasmonic absorber for solar energy harvesting
topic Plasmonic absorber
finite difference time domain (FDTD)
finite element method (FEM)
nano-antenna
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7580638/
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AT samehmohamedelmalt broadbandomnidirectionalnearlyperfectplasmonicabsorberforsolarenergyharvesting
AT salahsaobayya broadbandomnidirectionalnearlyperfectplasmonicabsorberforsolarenergyharvesting