Broadband epsilon-near-zero metamaterials based on metal-polymer composite thin films

Epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) metamaterials are designed to exhibit a near-zero response for the real part of the dielectric permittivity at a given frequency or in a specific frequency range. Typically, this frequency range is relatively small. In this paper, we present an approach to broaden this range by controlling the size of the nanoparticles embedded in a thin film. Noble metal nanoparticles exhibit an external size effect that redshifts the Surface Plasmon Resonance frequency with an increase of the size of the particles. The absorption spectrum of a material can be directly related to its dielectric permittivity via the Kramers-Kronig relations. We use the Kramers-Kronig relations to retrieve the complex effective dielectric permittivity of a composite film, which is designed to exhibit ENZ behavior over a broad frequency range. We synthesize a composite thin film embedded with metal nanoparticles of a broad size distribution. Such a material exhibits a broad SPR, and, in turn, broadband ENZ behavior.