Refractory materials and plasmonics based perfect absorbers

In the past decades, metamaterial light absorbers have attracted tremendous attention due to their impressive absorption efficiency and significant potential for multiple kinds of applications. However, the conventional noble metals based metamaterial and nanomaterial absorbers always suffer from the structural damage by the local high temperature resulting from the strong plasmonic photo-thermal effects. To address this challenge, intensive research has been conducted to develop the absorbers which can realize efficient light absorption and simultaneously keep the structural stability under high temperatures. In this review, we present detail discussion on the refractory materials which can provide robust thermal stability and high performance for light absorption. Moreover, promising theoretical designs and experimental demonstrations that possess excellent features are also reviewed, including broadband strong light absorption, high temperature durability, and even the easy-to-fabricate configuration. Some applications challenges and prospects of refractory materials based plasmonic perfect absorbers are also introduced and discussed.