Large-Area Metal-Integrated Grating Electrode Achieving Near 100% Infrared Transmission

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Abstract Highly transparent and conductive electrodes operating in the infrared (IR) are critically needed for a broad range of technologies, including light-emitting diodes, lasers and photodetectors, which are key building blocks of infrared cameras, LiDARs, and thermal systems such as IR heaters. While transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) have seen substantial progress in the visible spectrum, their performance in the IR remains limited due to increased absorption and reflection caused by the plasma resonance of free carriers in conductive materials. Here, we demonstrate a large-area TCE based on a metal-integrated monolithic high-contrast grating (metalMHCG) fabricated on a GaAs substrate. This structure acts as an effective antireflection coating, achieving near-unity transmission of unpolarized mid- to far-infrared (M-FIR) light. The metalMHCG exhibits 94% transmission at a wavelength of 7 μm, corresponding to 135% relative to transmission through a flat GaAs–air interface, while maintaining an exceptionally low sheet resistance of 2.8Ωsq−1. By simultaneously delivering excellent optical transparency and electrical conductivity, the metalMHCG establishes a new performance benchmark among M-FIR TCEs and provides a versatile platform for next-generation high-power optoelectronic devices.
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Large-Area Metal-Integrated Grating Electrode Achieving Near 100% Infrared Transmission | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Large-Area Metal-Integrated Grating Electrode Achieving Near 100% Infrared Transmission Tomasz Czyszanowski, Karolina Bogdanowicz, Weronika Głowadzka, and 11 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7744700/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 10 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Light: Science & Applications → Version 1 posted 12 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Highly transparent and conductive electrodes operating in the infrared (IR) are critically needed for a broad range of technologies, including light-emitting diodes, lasers and photodetectors, which are key building blocks of infrared cameras, LiDARs, and thermal systems such as IR heaters. While transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) have seen substantial progress in the visible spectrum, their performance in the IR remains limited due to increased absorption and reflection caused by the plasma resonance of free carriers in conductive materials. Here, we demonstrate a large-area TCE based on a metal-integrated monolithic high-contrast grating (metalMHCG) fabricated on a GaAs substrate. This structure acts as an effective antireflection coating, achieving near-unity transmission of unpolarized mid- to far-infrared (M-FIR) light. The metalMHCG exhibits 94% transmission at a wavelength of 7 μm, corresponding to 135% relative to transmission through a flat GaAs–air interface, while maintaining an exceptionally low sheet resistance of 2.8Ωsq−1. By simultaneously delivering excellent optical transparency and electrical conductivity, the metalMHCG establishes a new performance benchmark among M-FIR TCEs and provides a versatile platform for next-generation high-power optoelectronic devices. Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Applied optics/Mid-infrared photonics Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Applied optics/Optoelectronic devices and components Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical materials and structures/Metamaterials Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical physics/Nanophotonics and plasmonics monolithic high contrast grating subwavelength grating transparent conductive electrode Full Text Additional Declarations There is no conflict of interest Supplementary Files LargeAreaMetalIntegratedGratingsuppl.pdf Large-Area Metal-Integrated Grating Electrode Achieving Near 100% Infrared Transmission Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 10 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Light: Science & Applications → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: revise 26 Nov, 2025 Review # 4 received at journal 27 Oct, 2025 Review # 3 received at journal 26 Oct, 2025 Reviewer # 4 agreed at journal 24 Oct, 2025 Reviewer # 3 agreed at journal 07 Oct, 2025 Reviewer # 2 agreed at journal 06 Oct, 2025 Review # 1 received at journal 04 Oct, 2025 Reviewer # 1 agreed at journal 02 Oct, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 02 Oct, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 02 Oct, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 29 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 29 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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