Ultrabroad-Band, Greatly Enhanced Light Absorption by Monolayer Graphene

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a method to greatly enhance light absorption in monolayer graphene across a broad spectrum by using attenuated total reflection, achieving up to 42.7% absorption experimentally.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel approach to increase graphene's light absorption over a wide spectral range by optimizing the refractive indices of surrounding media.

Findings

Achieved up to 42.7% light absorption in monolayer graphene.

Enhanced absorption is dependent on the refractive index matching of surrounding media.

Experimental results agree with numerical calculations.

Abstract

We demonstrate greatly enhanced light absorption by monolayer graphene over a broad spectral range, from visible to near infrared, based on the attenuated total reflection. In the experiment, graphene is sandwiched between two dielectric media referred as superstrate and substrate. Based on numerical calculation and experimental results, the closer the refractive indices of the superstrate and the substrate, the higher the absorption of graphene will be. The light absorption of monolayer graphene up to 42.7% is experimentally achieved.