Tailoring Metal and Insulator Contributions in Plasmonic Perfect Absorber Metasurfaces

<div>Maximum absorption of light using plasmonic perfect absorbers (PPAs) is highly desired in the field of energy harvesting. We reveal how optical properties of several</div><div>popular metals and insulators are affecting performance of PPAs at mid-infrared (IR) wavelengths. Optical properties of experimentally prepared (by plasma sputtering) structures follow expected scalings, however, departure from the finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations are significant when roughness of the first metal baselayer is not taken into account. Electrical conductivity is shown to strongly affect</div><div>performance of PPAs.