Ultrabroadband suppression of mid-infrared reflection losses of a layered semiconductor by nanopatterning with a focused ion beam

Abstract

Moth-eye structures are patterned onto gallium selenide surfaces with sub-micrometer precision. In this way, Fresnel reflection losses are suppressed to below one percent within an ultrabroad optical bandwidth from 15 to 65 THz. We tune the geometry by rigorous coupled-wave analysis. Subsequently, ablation with a Ga⁺ ion beam serves to write optimized structures in areas covering 30 by 30 μm. The benefits are demonstrated via optical rectification of femtosecond laser pulses under tight focusing, resulting in emission of phase-stable transients in the mid-infrared. We analyze the performance of antireflection coating directly in the time domain by ultrabroadband electro-optic sampling.