Mid-infrared photodetector spectrometer concept based on ultrathin all-dielectric metamaterial with azimuth-incidence-angle tuned perfect optical absorption: Design and analysis

Novel concepts for efficient compact spectroscopy are extensively researched due to their fundamental applications in prominent fields such as chemistry, biology, and physics. Here, with an unprecedented spectral-azimuthal resolution, such a concept is introduced and exemplified in the mid-infrared, in which its advantages are paramount and have yet to be established industrially. The concept is based on the design and instrumentation of optical absorption spectral tuning (or sensitivity) to the relative azimuthal component of light impinging on specifically designed metamaterials (MMs). The inversely-designed MMs offer perfect photo-absorption inside λ₀/200 ultra-thin layer of lead telluride. Two small-footprint system designs are proposed to instrument the spectral-azimuth-angle tuning for spectrometry. The first is based on a single or few spinning MM layout elements, and the second, to avoid spinning, utilizes a fixed focal-plane-array approach. The latter exploits the inherent variations in the local azimuthal-incidence angle. While low absorption is the Achilles heel of conventional mid-infrared photodetector spectrometers, the optimized MMs, besides their unique spectral-azimuth-angle tuning functionality, provide giant absorption enhancement, facilitating higher resolution and even smaller in-plane form factor. The highlighted concept opens an additional dimension to encode-decode spectral information, yielding profound advantages over conventional designs, such as those based on diffraction gratings.