Optical Absorption Engineering in Graphene-Based Systems

Graphene’s atomically thin structure and exceptional electronic properties make it an attractive platform for light–matter interaction, yet its intrinsic absorption of around 2.3 % per layer presents a challenge for many photonic applications. Optical absorption engineering in graphene-based systems encompasses a variety of approaches to overcome this limitation by tailoring the electromagnetic environment or the material’s electronic response. Plasmonic architectures, including metallic nanoantennas and patterned gratings, concentrate optical fields at the graphene interface, boosting absorption through resonant coupling. Photonic crystal slabs and guided‐mode resonators exploit interference effects to trap light and achieve critical coupling, while heterostructures with dielectric or two‐dimensional layers can induce band‐structure modifications that enhance light capture. Metasurfaces comprising subwavelength elements enable dynamic control of impedance matching, and electrostatic gating of graphene adjusts its Fermi energy to switch absorption on demand. Together, these strategies have yielded ultra‐narrowband and broadband absorbers, optical bistable switches, modulators and sensitive detectors across the visible to mid‐infrared spectrum. The global significance of this research lies in its potential to drive compact, energy‐efficient photodetectors, tunable modulators for optical communications and high‐performance sensors for environmental and biomedical monitoring.

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Optical Absorption Engineering in Graphene-Based Systems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in optical absorption engineering in graphene-based systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Critical coupling: Condition in which the rate of light radiative loss matches the intrinsic absorption loss, yielding maximal energy transfer into the absorber.

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs): Electromagnetic waves confined at a metal–dielectric interface, tightly bound to the surface and capable of concentrating optical fields.

Guided‐mode resonance (GMR): Resonant coupling of incident light into leaky waveguide modes in periodic structures, enhancing field intensity near the active layer.

Metasurface: A planar assembly of subwavelength resonators designed to control amplitude, phase or polarisation of light at will.

Fermi energy: The chemical potential of electrons in graphene, tunable via electrostatic gating and directly affecting its optical conductivity.

References

1. Electrically switchable and tunable infrared light modulator based on functional graphene metasurface. Nanophotonics (2023).
2. Bandwidth tunability of graphene absorption enhancement by hybridization of delocalized surface plasmon polaritons and localized magnetic plasmons. Discover Nano (2024).
3. Controlling light absorption of graphene at critical coupling through magnetic dipole quasi-bound states in the continuum resonance. Physical Review B (2020).