Wide-angle infrared metamaterial absorber with near-unity absorbance

•The English is modified.•The modified is marked with red.•The modified description is in the “Cover letter”. A wide-angle infrared perfect metamaterial absorber is experimentally verified. The perfect metamaterial absorber shows polarization-independent at normal incidence and displays high absorption rate at a large angle of incidence. The absorption property of the proposed metamaterial absorber is sensitive to the change of refractive index of environmental mediums. An absorption sensor scheme is proposed by combining the concept of the perfect metamaterial absorber and the variation of the refractive index of the environmental medium. Measured results indicate that the proposed absorption sensor scheme achieves high FOM values with different surrounding mediums (air, water, and glucose solution).