Results in Physics 42 (2022) 106025

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Results in Physics
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rinp

Triple Fano resonances metasurface and its extension for multi-channel

ultra-narrow band absorber
Yucheng Ye , Shilin Yu *, Hao Li , Ziang Gao , Lei Yang , Tonggang Zhao *
School of the Electronic and Engineering, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Metasurface excited multiple Fano resonances has become a hot spot and has been widely investigated and
Metasurface applied in the field of optics. A metasurface designed in this paper is composed of a silicon cuboid etched with an
Fano resonance akin rhombus hole and deposited periodically on the silica substrate. By introducing symmetry breaking, the
Bound states in continuum
symmetry-protected BIC is transformed into the quasi-BIC, and triple sharp Fano resonances, corresponding to
Absorber
1357 nm, 1421.7 nm, and 1588.8 nm respectively, with spectral contrasts of nearly 100 % are excited. Their
maximum Q-factor can reach ~ 3 × 104. Results of multipole decomposition show that the triple Fano resonances
are dominated by magnetic dipole (MD) or electric quadrupole (EQ). Additionally, by modifying the polarization
angle of the incident light, the metasurface performs excellently as a bidirectional optical switch. By adding the
aluminum layer under the original structure, an ultra-narrowband absorber is created with a maximum ab­
sorption rate of ~ 100 %. The sensing performance of the absorber is studied, yielding the maximum sensitivity
of 255 nm/RIU and the maximum figure of merit (FOM) of 477 RIU− 1. The proposed metasurface and its
extension structure are potential to be applied in as high-performance biosensors, optical switch, and coherent
thermal radiation.

1. Introduction polarization of the space scattering field can be flexibly controlled by

tuning the physical parameters, geometry shape, and structural
Fano resonance is a phenomenon of asymmetric spectral profile arrangement of metasurfaces, so as to realize various optical functions.
produced by the destructive interference of continuous states and Furthermore, metasurfaces are small enough in size, light in weight,
discrete localized states. Its spectral curve was first discovered by H. easily conformal, and more suitable for the development of modern
Beutlter in 1935 [1]. Due to its sharp spectral characteristic and sig­ optical system miniaturization and integration. Combination with
nificant near-field enhancement, Fano resonances have been deeply common semiconductor materials, such as silicon, has also immensely
researched over these years. Recently, Fano resonances are widely accelerated their development. Compared with the surface plasmon
employed in numerous applications such as optical switches [2], optical resonant metasurfaces with merely electric resonance, both electric and
sensors [3], surface plasmon lasers [4], filters [5], and so on. They can magnetic resonance can be generated in all-dielectric metasurfaces. In
be excited in micro-nano photonic devices, such as waveguide structures addition, the refractive index of the top silicon layer is larger than it of
[6], photonic crystal plates [7] and metasurfaces [8], and so forth. the silica substrate layer and the surrounding background, which means
Nevertheless, the spectral contrast of Fano resonances is mostly less than the metasurface is capable of confining light strongly whilst decreasing
80 % in waveguides [9]. The linewidth is middle and the Fano resonance significantly electromagnetic losses. Thus, all-dielectric metasurfaces
profiles are not sharp in photonic crystals, which is difficult to be applied are widely studied and applied in sensors [11], optical switches [12],
in accurate detection [7]. Fortunately, Fano resonances generated in beam steering devices [13], surface-wave couplers [14], filters [15], and
metasurfaces can solve these problems. so on. However, in recent reports [16–18], either low Q-factors or the
Electromagnetic metasurface is a kind of artificial two-dimensional small quantity of the excited Fano resonances, which is unsuitable for
metamaterial, which consists of a periodic extension of the sub­ utilization in multichannel sensors. Hence, it is meaningful to design an
wavelength size unit cells in the plane [10]. The amplitude, phase, and all-dielectric metasurface structure to excite ultra-high Q-factor multiple

* Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (S. Yu), [email protected] (T. Zhao).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rinp.2022.106025
Received 17 July 2022; Received in revised form 17 September 2022; Accepted 27 September 2022
Available online 28 September 2022
2211-3797/© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
Y. Ye et al. Results in Physics 42 (2022) 106025

Fano resonances. dielectric-dielectric-metal (DDM) structure to achieve an absorber with

Bound states in continuum (BIC) have become an efficient method to triple ultra-narrowband peaks.
excite high Q-factor Fano resonances [19,20]. BIC is located inside the In this paper, a metasurface structure is proposed. Triple high Q-
continuum but remains completely local in the absence of radiation and factor Fano resonances are excited simultaneously in the near-infrared
has a tremendous local field enhancement [21–23]. A true BIC is a region. Their modulation depth and spectral contrast reach nearly
mathematical object existing only in an ideal lossless infinite structure 100 % and the maximal Q-factor reach ~ 3 × 104. Multipole decom­
and can be considered to possess zero leakage, zero linewidth resonance, position results verify that the dominant electromagnetic sources of the
and an infinite Q-factor [22]. When the spatial symmetry of the mode three resonances are MD, EQ, and MD, respectively. Afterward, the
does not match that of the outgoing radiation wave, the mode cannot negative effect of optical losses on the metasurface response is discussed
radially couple outward. This BIC is called symmetry-protected BIC. We by introducing the extinction coefficient. Then, the polarization-
can break the symmetry, such as the asymmetric distributions in the dependence of this metasurface is studied, which offers a reference
plane of the materials with different refractive indices [24], the oblique scheme for optical switching applications. Subsequently, the ultra-
incidence of light, or introducing symmetry breaks in the structure narrow band absorber is realized by adding aluminum under the orig­
[25,26], leading to the conversion from symmetry-protected BIC into inal structure, and the maximum absorption rate reaches almost 100 %.
the quasi-BIC with high Q-factor and narrow linewidth, called the super- The relation between the absorption linewidth and the thickness of the
cavity mode as well. The unique characteristics and excitation principle silica layer is analyzed as well. Finally, the sensing property of the
of BIC provide theoretical support for high Q-factor Fano resonances absorber is investigated, with maximum sensitivity and figure of merit
excitation by the metasurface in this paper. (FOM) reaching 255 nm/RIU and 477 RIU− 1, respectively, providing a
Metasurface absorbers can achieve nearly perfect electromagnetic new device for refractive index sensing technology.
absorption. The incident electromagnetic wave in a specific frequency
band can be completely dissipated by designing reasonable resonant 2. Model structure design
microstructures. According to the absorption linewidth, absorbers are
divided into broadband and narrowband ones. Narrowband absorbers The design drawings of the proposed metasurface are depicted in
usually possess better coherence or higher sensitivity and are often Fig. 1. The meta-molecule is composed of a silicon cuboid with an akin
utilized for sensing [27] and coherent thermal radiation [28]. Absorbers rhombus etched hole and a silica substrate. Herein, the akin rhomboid is
constructed of the metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) structure have been divided into two triangles by the transverse diagonal, and the bottom
reported in many previous papers, but moderate linewidth, minor peak width is set to d = 120 nm. We set the height of the upper triangle as h1
numbers, and metallic ohmic loss confine their development in high- and the height of the lower one as h2. The thickness of the silicon cuboid
performance applications. For example, the MDM structure absorber is t = 200 nm, and the length is L = 600 nm. The lattice constants along
proposed by Liu Xiaoyuan generated only two absorption peaks and the the x and y axes are P=Px=Py=650nm, respectively. Given the mate­
linewidth of the one is close to 10 nm, making it untoward to gain a rial’s dispersion characteristics, the various parameters of silicon and
foothold in the sensing field [29]. The DM structure proposed by Liao silica are referred to the Palik refractive index database values [33]. The
Yanlin possessed only one peak whose linewidth was wider than 1 nm incident plane light wave is set propagating vertically along the negative
[30]. Moreover, the conventional absorbers are usually designed as z axis and polarizing in the positive x-axis. The optical properties
complicated structures whose fabrication process is quite difficult and analysis is conducted via the finite difference time domain (FDTD)
easy to produce some fabrication losses [31,32]. Therefore, to settle the method based on Lumerical Solutions module. The proposed structure,
matter, we add an aluminum layer under the origin structure to form a consisting of a large number of unit arrays, manifests periodic

Fig. 1. Design diagrams of the proposed metasurface. (a) Top view of meta-atom. (b) Schematic diagram of meta-molecule. (c) Schematic diagram of the proposed
metasurface.

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Y. Ye et al. Results in Physics 42 (2022) 106025

arrangement over an infinite range, as shown in Fig. 1(c). Therefore, the

x and y axes are set as periodic boundary conditions, and perfectly
matched layers (PML) are employed to absorb the reflected wave energy
in the z-direction.

3. Simulation and result

To excite Fano resonances, the asymmetric parameter δ=h1-h2 is

introduced. Originally, we set h1 = h2 = 100 nm (δ = 0), that is, the
etched hole is a standard rhombus and the meta-atom is symmetric.
Fig. 2 illustrates the transmission spectral curves of the metasurface
under the symmetric and asymmetric conditions. As shown in the solid
yellow curve in Fig. 2, only one Fano resonance exists at 1398.3 nm,
called FR1. We set h1 = 200 nm and h2 unchanged (h2 = 100 nm, if there
is no special explanation later, h2 is fixed), that is, δ = 100 nm, as shown
in the solid red curve in Fig. 2. Due to breaking the in-plane symmetry of
the structure, dual new Fano resonances appear at 1421.7 nm and
1588.8 nm in the transmission spectrum, named FR2 and FR3 respec­
tively. The linewidths of the two resonances are quite narrow, which
indicates that these two possess high Q-factor and strong local field
energy. However, compared with it for δ = 0 nm, the FR1 peak shifts to
1357 nm and the linewidth and the modulation depth increase, which
indicates the symmetry break makes the radiation channel at the FR1
resonance larger, resulting in radiation energy leakage and a decrease in
Q-factor correspondingly.
Fig. 3 depicts the change of transmission spectra with the variation of
asymmetric parameter δ. When δ = 0 nm, there is no Fano resonance at
FR2 and FR3, and the linewidth is zero, indicating that these two reso­
nances are BIC modes, and the Q-factor tends to infinity. With the in­
crease of δ, the symmetry of the metasurface is broken, new Fano
resonances begin to appear near 1421 nm and 1589 nm, and the line­
width gradually increases, which indicates FR2 and FR3 are symmetry-
protected BIC for δ = 0 nm. Meanwhile, blue shifts occur at the FR2 and
the FR3 because the increase of δ gets to rise with the decrease of the
Fig. 3. The transmission spectra of the proposed metasurface for different δ.
effective refractive index of the metasurface, which weakens the inter­
FR1, FR2, FR3, BIC mode and quasi-BIC mode are marked in the figure.
action between light and matter. Because of the difference between the
height of the upper and lower triangle, the symmetry of the interaction
matches it of free space polarization, compensating for a spatial sym­ linewidth. Besides, the smaller the symmetry break is, the narrower the
metry mismatch between the BIC mode and the incident polarization. A radiation channel is, and the less energy is radiated into the free space,
radiation channel between the metasurface and free space is con­ resulting in a higher Q-factor [22,34,35].
structed, and the BIC energy is radiated outside, leading to the BIC mode The modulation depth and the spectrum contrast are two important
transformed into the quasi-BIC mode with a high Q-factor and finite indices to characterize the performance of Fano resonance. The modu­
lation depth of Fano resonance is expressed as Tpeak-Tdip [26], and the
spectral contrast is given by (Tpeak-Tdip)/(Tpeak + Tdip) × 100 % [18],
where Tpeak and Tdip represent the transmission amplitude at the reso­
nance peak and dip respectively. As illustrated in Fig. 3, when δ = 100
nm, the modulation depth and the spectral contrast of the three Fano
resonances almost reach 100 %, which provides a solid performance
basis for the proposed metasurface utilized as a sensor. What’s more, Q-
factor is also a crucial assessment index for the resonator performance.
The Fano resonance waveform is generally expressed by the following
function [36,37]:
⃒ ⃒2
⃒ b ⃒
TFano (ω) = ⃒⃒a1 + ja2 + ⃒ (1)
ω − ω0 + jγ⃒

Where ω0 is the resonant frequency, a1, a2 and b are the constant real
coefficients, γ represents the overall damping loss and the linewidth is
controlled by it. The Q-factor of Fano resonance is obtained by fitting.
Here, we set d = 110 nm, h1 = 140 nm, i.e. δ = 40 nm, to conduct nu­
merical fitting of the FR2. Fig. 4(a) depicts its fitting results. The solid
yellow line illustrates the simulation waveform of the FR2 and the
dotted red line represents its fitting waveform. The calculation results of
Fig. 2. Transmission spectrum of the proposed metasurface. The solid yellow the Q-factor also depend on the following formula [37]:
curve represents the spectral line at δ = 0 nm, and the solid red curve represents ω0
the spectral line at δ = 100 nm. The embedded image illustrates the specific Q= (2)
2γ
structure of the meta-molecule in two different cases.

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Y. Ye et al. Results in Physics 42 (2022) 106025

Fig. 4. (a) The fitting result of FR2. The solid yellow line represents its simulation result, and the dotted red line represents its fitting result. (b) The relation between
Q-factor and β. The embedded image denotes the definition of the asymmetry degree β.

ω0 can be calculated from the waveform data and γ can be obtained by 1

∫
fitting. The Q-factor of the FR2 under the above condition is 29542, and P= jd3 r (4a)
iω
it is tough for the metasurface reported in previous papers to achieve
∫
such a high Q-factor [16,38]. The result in Fig. 4(a) shows the fitting 1
M= (r × j)d3 r (4b)
curve fits well with the simulation one, so the calculation result of the Q- 2c
factor is credible. With the same method, the Q-factors of the FR1 and ∫
the FR3 are calculated as 3054 and 17,545 respectively. T=
1 [ ]
(r ⋅ j)r − 2r2 j d3 r (4c)
The relation between Q-factor and δ in Fig. 4(a) can be quantitatively 10c
obtained. As shown in the embedded image in Fig. 4(b), the asymmetry ∫[ ( )]
1
degree is defined as β = ΔS/S [34]. Where, ΔS is the area produced by Q(m)
αβ = (r × j)α rβ + (r × j)β rα d3 r (4d)
3c
the structural asymmetry break, and S is the area of the meta-atom. The
Q-factor is expressed as [35]. ∫[ ]
1 2
(4e)
(e)
Qαβ = rα jβ + jβ rα − (r⋅ j) δα,β d3 r
A i2ω 3
Q= |p0 |2 β− 2
(3)
2k0
Where, r is the position vector, c is the speed of light, ω is the angular
where p0 is the electric dipole moment of the lower part of the meta- frequency of light, α, β, γ represent the x, y, z axis direction. P, M, T, Q(e)
molecule, A is the area of the periodic element, and k0 is the wave and Q(m) denote ED, MD, TD, EQ, MQ respectively. Here, the δ is chosen
vector along the z-axis. It can be seen from equation (3) that there is a as 150 nm. The multipole decomposition results are illustrated in Fig. 5.
relation between the Q-factor and the asymmetry degree Q∝β− 2 Transparently, at the FR1, FR2 and FR3, the dominant multipole
[34,35,39]. The dependence of the Q-factor on the asymmetry degree β
is reciprocal quadric, which is a general law of all symmetry-broken
metasurfaces [39]. Fig. 4(b) depicts the inverse square relation be­
tween the Q-factor and the β in a logarithmic coordinate system. As δ
decreases, β decreases, and then the Q-factor increases. Therefore, for
the quasi-BIC mode, we can achieve the desired Q-factor and linewidth
by adjusting the asymmetric parameter δ of the metasurface. Thereby, in
order to obtain a huger Q-factor than the above study, it is only neces­
sary to adjust δ smaller, which paves the way for a variety of applications
such as sensing.
To clearly understand the radiation characteristics of the three Fano
resonances in Fig. 2, the multipole decomposition in cartesian co­
ordinates is performed [35,36,40]. The polar moment is calculated by
integrating the carrier density or the current density inside the structural
element, and then the sum of the far-field scattering intensity of all the
polar moments at a certain frequency point is calculated, and eventually,
the total far-field scattering energy is obtained. We normally consider
only the five strongest electromagnetic sources: electric dipole (ED),
magnetic dipole (MD), toroidal dipole (TD), electric quadrupole (EQ),
and magnetic quadrupole (MQ). The calculation formulas of the pole
moments are as follows:
Fig. 5. The power scattered by different multipole moments at FR1, FR2
and FR3.

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Y. Ye et al. Results in Physics 42 (2022) 106025

components are MD, EQ and MD respectively.

To further figure out the radiation characteristics and action modes
of the dominant electromagnetic sources at the resonances, the elec­
tromagnetic field analysis is performed in different views in the x-y
plane and y-z plane of the metasurface. Here we set δ = 150 nm as well.
In Fig. 6, The color maps represent the magnetic field Hz distributions
(|H/H0 |), and the white arrows indicate the electric field directions. The
electromagnetic field monitors are placed in the plane at the center of
the meta-atom, as shown in Fig. 6(a), and 5 nm above the meta-atom, as
illustrated in Fig. 6(b), respectively. For the FR1, there are four
displacement current loops in the x-y plane, with the upper two loops
rotating counterclockwise and the lower two loops rotating clockwise.
Correspondingly, the magnetic field directions beside the adjacent
etched hole are opposite, which indicates that this resonance mode can
be regarded as four MDs in the meta-atom, so we deem that the MD
mode is the dominant electromagnetic source at the FR1. It is consistent
with the multipole decomposition result in Fig. 5. Then for the FR2, the
directions of the electric field Ex are opposite along the x axis, which can
be regarded as two ED modes in the negative and positive directions of
the x axis. Similarly, in the x-y plane, the electric field Ey can also be
considered as two ED modes orienting the negative and positive di­
rections of the y axis, as manifested in Fig. 6(b). Therefore, it can be
considered as an EQ mode in the x-y plane. Lastly, at the FR3, there is a
clockwise displacement current ring in the x-y plane, and the magnetic
field is polarized in the negative direction of the z axis, corresponding to
the MD mode. Furthermore, one can observe the phenomenon that the
magnetic field strength in the cross-sectional plane is nearly twice than it
in the top plane, which illustrates that the metasurface possesses the
ability of strong local field enhancement, advantageous for interaction Fig. 7. Transmission spectra at different loss levels (k) at δ = 100 nm.
between electromagnetic field and matter. This feature opens the door to
a variety of the promising applications. deteriorates gradually with the increase of k. The FR2 is the most sen­
As for the proposed metasurface, the surface roughness of silicon will sitive to optical losses, and its modulation depth and Q-factor decrease
introduce the absorption and scattering losses, which will affect the obviously when k > 10− 4. Nevertheless, the FR1 is influenced slightly.
metasurface responses. Here, the extinction coefficient k, i.e. the imag­ When k < 10− 3, only the Q-factor decreases, and the modulation depth
inary part of the silicon refractive index, is employed to quantify the never changes. Whereas, at k = 5 × 10− 3, both the modulation depth and
optical losses. At δ = 100 nm, the transmission spectra at different loss the Q-factor of the FR1 decrease prominently. When k increases to a
levels (k) are displayed in Fig. 7. When k < 10− 5, the metasurface certain value, such as k = 5 × 10− 3, the absorption and scattering
response is affected barely by the losses, and the original Fano resonance probability in silicon is quite large, and the resonance is completely
spectral line is maintained. However, the transmission waveform quenched. It is almost difficult to observe the standard Fano resonance

Fig. 6. For δ = 150 nm, the normalized electromagnetic field distributions in the different positions of the meta-atom at the corresponding resonant wavelengths.
The color maps represent Hz distributions (|H/H0 |), and the white arrows show the electric field directions. (a) In the top view (5 nm above the meta-atom). (b) In the
cross-sectional view.

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Y. Ye et al. Results in Physics 42 (2022) 106025

spectral lines, especially FR2 and FR3, as characterized in Fig. 7. In fact, source for FR4. Fig. 8(b) illustrates that TD is generated by the polari­
the degrees which the resonances are suppressed are affected by the zation current flowing along the torus meridian and can be represented
asymmetric break size likewise. A metasurface with the smaller asym­ equivalently by a set of magnetic dipoles aligned end to end along the
metric break is more sensitive to the introduced losses [41]. But, it can torus [44]. The TD possesses the unique characteristics different from
be explicated in Fig. 3 that the proposed metasurface usually works at δ the electric dipole and the magnetic dipole, such as data storage, elec­
≥ 80 nm to achieve a high modulation depth. Thus, this metasurface is tromagnetic induction transparency, unique magnetic response and di­
not pretty sensitive to the optical losses, which elucidates that the minor chroism and so forth [45]. Whereas, the electromagnetic behavior of TD
errors can be accepted to an extent and so the proposed metasurface is is usually covered by multiple effects of the charge and the magnetism,
robust. causing it untoward to observe [46]. The power scattered by the TD of
the FR4 excited by our designed metasurface at the polarization angle of
4. Application 90◦ is nearly twice that of the MQ, and far larger than that of the ED and
the MD. It offers a rare opportunity to research and apply the unique
To figure out whether the metasurface is polarization-dependent characteristics of the TD mode.
with respect to the light source, the polarization angle θ is defined as
the included angle between the direction of the incident electric field 5. DDM extension structure
polarization and the x-axis, as shown in Fig. 8(a) the polarization angle θ
is set as seven different values (other parameters are accordant with An ultra-narrowband absorber with the DDM structure is constructed
those in Fig. 1), and the transmission spectra of the metasurface at by adding the aluminum layer thick enough underneath the original
different polarization angles are received in Fig. 8(d). The modulation structure. Here, other parameters are consistent with those in Fig. 1(a)
depths of the three resonances decrease with the polarization angle and δ = 100 nm. The absorption A of the proposed DDM structure can be
increasing. Furthermore, a new resonance appears, called FR4 here, given by A = 1-R-T, where R and T represent the reflection and the
whose modulation depth increases as θ increases. When θ = 90◦ , the transmission respectively. Because the thickness of the aluminum layer
three resonances disappear, while the FR4 resonance forms at 1412.4 is much larger than the skin depth of the incidence light, A can be simply
nm. Obviously, the metasurface is dependent on the incident polariza­ expressed as A = 1-R. Fig. 9(a) displays the extended DDM structure,
tion. However, unlike other structures previously reported [42,43], not where the blue substrate is aluminum. The thickness of the silica is set as
only the original Fano resonances disappear when the polarization angle 200 nm. The DDM structure is placed in the environment with a
alters from 0◦ to 90◦ , but a new Fano resonance appears at other posi­ refractive index of 1.31. Fig. 9(b) shows the absorption spectrum of the
tion. It provides an idea for the application of the metasurface in bidi­ proposed DDM structure. Triple ultra-narrowband absorption peaks
rectional optical switching. When θ is 0◦ , the switching state appear at 1410.3 nm, 1499.2 nm and 1608.2 nm, named AP1, AP2 and
corresponds to (1,0,1,1), while as θ is transformed into 90◦ , the AP3 respectively. It can be manifested in Fig. 9(b) that the absorption
switching state is converted to (0,1,0,0) accordingly, which realizes the rate of the AP3 is almost 100 %, and the absorption rate of the AP1 and
bidirectional switching state transformation accurately. the AP2 also exceed 96 %. The full width at half maxima (FWHM) of the
To gain insight into the radiation characteristics of the new FR4 three peaks are 0.54 nm, 0.57 nm and 0.60 nm respectively, and the Q-
resonance, multipole decomposition is performed for it. Fig. 8(c) depicts factors are 2612, 2630 and 2680 respectively (Q = λ0 /FWHM, where
the normalized power scattered by the multipole moments. The result λ0 represents the wavelength at the absorption peak [47]). Because the
elucidates that the toroidal dipole (TD) is the dominant electromagnetic inherent ohmic loss arises after adding a metal layer, all the Q-factors

Fig. 8. (a) Schematic diagram of the polarization angle θ. (b) Schematic diagram of the toroidal dipole (TD). (c) The normalized power scattered by the multipole
moments at the FR4 for θ = 90◦ . (d) Transmission spectra at different θ.

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Y. Ye et al. Results in Physics 42 (2022) 106025

Fig. 9. (a) The diagram of the proposed DDM structure. (b) Absorption spectrum of the proposed DDM structure.

reduce inevitably. Whereas, compared with the narrowband absorber structure, the electric field Ey distributions at the three resonances are
reported previously, it possesses higher Q-factor and absorption rate as illustrated in Fig. 10. The parameters are the same as those in Fig. 9. In
well [48,49]. Moreover, the effective mode volume is also one of the Fig. 10, one can see that the reversed electric field is mainly concen­
important parameters of the optical microcavity, which is defined as the trated in the dielectric layer, and there is almost no electric field dis­
ratio of the total electromagnetic energy of the intrinsic mode in the tributions in the metal layer, which is completely different from the
cavity to the maximum electromagnetic energy density in the cavity. It MDM structure where the electric field is focused in the metal layer [29].
reflects the energy density distribution of the optical field in the three- Actually, the silica layer can be considered as a Fabry-Perot (F-P) cavity,
dimensional space, which is expressed as [50]. and the top silicon is treated as a near-perfect cavity mirror at the
∫ resonance. Because the electric field is mainly confined to the silicon
ε(r)|E(r)|2 dV layer, the aluminum layer plays a role as another cavity mirror, which
Ve = V (5)
max{ε(r)|E(r)|2 } enables the proposed DDM structure to possess the low dissipation rate
and thus obtain the ultra-narrowband resonances.
Where, ε(r) is permittivity and E(r) represents the electric field distri­ Now, the effect of the silica layer thickness t, i.e., the thickness of the
butions in the cavity. From formula (5), one can figure out that in the FP cavity layer, on the absorption characteristics is necessary to be
condition that the intensity of the incident light is constant, the effective discussed. According to the cavity resonance theory, if the phase shifts
mode volume is small, and correspondingly the Q/Ve is large, and the caused by the upper and lower interfaces are ignored, the FWHM of the
distribution of electric field energy in the cavity is concentrated com­ resonance absorption peak can be determined by the following formula
mendably, resulting in the strong interaction between light and matter. [52]:
The effective mode volumes of the triple resonances are calculated as
9.82 × 10-21m3 for FR1, 1.84 × 10-21m3 for FR2, and 2.14 × 10-21m3 for λ20 1− R
FWHM = √̅̅̅ (6)
FR3. Since photons are confined to nanoscale space, resulting in 2π nSiO2 t 2 R
remarkably small mode volumes. The light-field localization also leads √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
to near-field enhancement effects. The DDM structure has a high Q/Ve Where R = R1 R2 , R1 and R2 denote the reflections from the top silicon
ratio, which possesses immense potential in the implementation of and the bottom aluminum, respectively. From formula (6), one can
efficient and low-threshold instruments, such as sensors [51]. know that if R is kept constant, there is an inverse relationship between
To comprehend the physical mechanism of the proposed DDM the FWHM of the absorption peaks and the FP cavity thickness t. As

Fig. 10. Electric field Ey distributions at three absorption peaks. (a) AP1. (b) AP2. (c) AP3.

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Y. Ye et al. Results in Physics 42 (2022) 106025

displayed in Fig. 11(a), if t increases from 160 nm to 240 nm, the AP3 6. Conclusion
produces a red shift with the shift wavelength successively decreasing
and a narrower linewidth, which fits well with formula (6). The other In summary, we design a metasurface structure, which consists of a
two peaks are concordant with its result. Meanwhile, the inverse rela­ silicon cuboid etched with an akin rhombus hole and a silicon dioxide
tionship between the FWHM of the AP3 and the t can be observed substrate. By breaking the in-plane symmetry of the structure, triple
distinctly from Fig. 11(b). Nevertheless, after t increases to 200 nm, the sharp and high spectral contrast Fano resonances are excited at 1357
absorption rate decreases with t increasing. Therefore, a compromise nm, 1421.7 nm, and 1588.8 nm in the transmission spectrum, with Q-
scheme with t = 200 nm is selected in this paper. Based on the above factors of 3054, 29542, and 17545, respectively. The transformation
research, if the absorption peak linewidth is required to be regulated, we from the symmetry-protected BIC to the quasi-BIC is verified by intro­
just need adjust the thickness of the silica layer accordingly. It is bene­ ducing the asymmetry degree. Thereby, one can control the Q-factor and
ficial to the design of a high-coherence thermal emitter and a high- the linewidth of the Fano resonances by tuning the asymmetry degree of
performance sensor. the proposed metasurface to meet the needs of the specific situations.
Refractive index sensing technology has broad applications in mod­ The results of the cartesian multipole decomposition explicate that the
ern society, ranging from food safety [53,54] to biomedical diagnosis resonances at 1357 nm and 1588.88 nm are governed by the MD mode,
[55,56], which can be utilized to conduct qualitative research on liquids. while the resonance at 1421.7 nm is EQ mode. The metasurface re­
In addition, there are various methods to be employed in the meta­ sponses after introducing the optical losses verify that the metasurface
surfaces for sensing applications, such as surface lattice resonances possesses strong robustness in the desired cases. Moreover, this structure
(SLR)[57] and toroidal resonances[58], and so on. Nevertheless, the is sensitive to the incident polarization enormously and a new Fano
amount of the above both detection peak (or valley) is usually just one resonance with the TD mode appears at 1412.4 nm at the polarization
[59] and the spectral contrast of the resonances is low [57], which is angle of 90◦ , thus the metasurface can be applied for the bidirectional
tough to adapt to some complicated multichannel detection environ­ optical switching. Additionally, an ultra-narrowband absorber with
ments. The proposed DDM structure in this paper owns multiple ab­ absorption rates higher than 96 % is obtained by adding an aluminum
sorption peaks with high Q-factors and strong local field enhancement, layer to form a DDM structure. The absorption linewidth can be nar­
so it is potential to be applied in refractive index sensing. The DDM rowed by tuning the thickness of the silica layer flexibly. Finally, the
structure is immersed in the environment with different refractive extended DDM absorber is employed as a refractive index sensor with
indices varying from 1.31 to 1.35, and then the absorption spectra are the maximum sensitivity, and FOM value of 255 nm/RIU and 477 RIU− 1
obtained in Fig. 12 to investigate its sensing performance. The sensi­ respectively. The proposed metasurface and its extension structure are
tivity S and figure of merit (FOM) are utilized to measure the perfor­ promising to be applied as high-performance biosensors, optical switch,
mance of the sensors. The sensitivity is given by S = Δλ/Δn, where Δλ and coherent thermal radiation.
denotes the wavelength shift and Δn is the ambient refractive index
difference values. FOM is defined as FOM = S/δλ, where δλ is the line­ CRediT authorship contribution statement
width of the resonance [52]. It can be expounded from Fig. 12(a)-(c) that
with the increase of the ambient refractive index n, evident red shifts Yucheng Ye: Writing – original draft, Formal analysis, Conceptual­
occur for all the three resonance peaks. Fig. 12(d) demonstrates that the ization, Visualization, Methodology. Shilin Yu: Writing – review &
resonance wavelength offset is directly proportional to the ambient editing, Project-administration. Hao Li: Methodology, Software. Ziang
refractive index. the sensitivities are calculated to be 208 nm/RIU, 255 Gao: Data curation, Validation. Lei Yang: Investigation, Validation.
nm/RIU, 94 nm/RIU, yielding the corresponding FOM to be 385 RIU− 1, Tonggang Zhao: Funding acquisition, Supervision.
477 RIU− 1, 157 RIU− 1 respectively. The sensor made with the proposed
DDM structure possesses the advantages of small size, high sensitivity,
high Q-factor, high FOM, and it can be extensively applied in various Declaration of Competing Interest
fields.
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.

Fig. 11. (a) Absorption spectra at the AP3 with different t (other parameters remain fixed). (b) The FWHM of the AP3 is inversely proportional to t.

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Y. Ye et al. Results in Physics 42 (2022) 106025

Fig. 12. (a) Absorption spectra of the AP1 in different n. (b) Absorption spectra of the AP2 in different n. (c) Absorption spectra of the AP3 in different n. (d)
Wavelength shifts of the three resonances related to n.

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