Total Absorption in a Graphene Monolayer in the Optical Regime by Critical Coupling with a Photonic Crystal Guided Resonance

We numerically demonstrate total absorption in graphene in the near-infrared and visible wavelength ranges by means of critical coupling with guided resonances of a photonic crystal slab. In this wavelength range, there is no plasmonic response in undoped graphene, so the critical coupling is entirely controlled by the properties of the photonic crystal resonance. We discuss the general theory and conditions for absorption enhancement and critical coupling in a thin film and give design rules for a totally absorbing system. We present examples in the near-infrared and visible, using both a lossless metallic mirror and a realistic multilayer dielectric mirror.