Approaching total absorption of graphene strips using a c-Si subwavelength periodic membrane

Approaching total absorption of graphene strips at near infrared using a crystalline-silicon (c-Si) subwavelength periodic membrane (SPM) is presented. The absorption in graphene strips in a c-Si SPM is enhanced by a resonant tip, which is resulted from the coupling between the guided mode and the radiation mode through symmetry breaking of the structure at near-normal incidence. The enhancement of the electric field intensity is increased 1939 times and the group velocity of light is decreased to 3.55×10−4c at resonance, and 99.3% absorption in graphene strips can be achieved by critical coupling at the incident angle of 2°. High absorption of the graphene strips can be maintained as the etching thickness, the strip width, and the period are altered. When this type of c-Si SPM with graphene strips is used in refractive index sensors, it shows excellent sensing properties due to its stable near-unity absorption.