Large-scale, transferable and double-sided metasurface absorber for the visible to near-infrared spectrum

Metasurface absorbers with broad-band, high absorption in the visible-near-infrared range can efficiently absorb solar energy, showing great potential in applications such as photothermal devices, radiative cooling, and stray light elimination. Here, we design and fabricate a metasurface absorber in the visible to near-infrared spectrum with high absorption, high yield and double-sided operation. The proposed metasurface absorber has a simple structure and manufacturing process, with a base consisting of a polystyrene microsphere array prepared by colloidal self-assembly, and a top layer made of chromium deposited by magnetron sputtering. Through the combined effects of surface plasmon resonance and magnetic polaritons, the metasurface absorber achieves average absorption of 84% on the front side and 91% on the back side within the 400 to 2500 nm spectrum. Additionally, due to its simple nanostructure, our metasurface absorber can be flexibly transferred to surfaces of various shapes. Our research provides a practical solution for achieving efficient solar energy absorption using metasurface absorbers.