Design of triple-band metamaterial absorbers with refractive index sensitivity at infrared frequencies

A triple-band perfect plasmonic metamaterial absorber based on a metal/insulator/metal ( MIM) structure is designed. A new freedom through tuning the thicknesses of each ring structures is introduced to realize a quasi-three-dimensional perfect absorber at three extinction wavelengths by using the finite difference time domain method. The physical machine is explained by the time domain field analyses and the coupled mode theory. The characteristics of the absorber make our proposed strategy applicable for the design of more general multiband and broadband perfect absorbers. In addition, these perfect absorbing metamaterials are found to exhibit excellent performance in refractive index sensing. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America