Perfect magnetic mirror and simple perfect absorber in the visible spectrum

Known experimental artificial magnetic conductors for terahertz and optical frequencies are formed by arrays of nanoparticles of various shapes. In this paper, we show that artificial magnetic conductors for the visible spectrum can be realized as simple, effectively quasistatic resonating structures, where the effective inductance is due to the magnetic flux inside a uniform metal substrate, and the effective capacitance is due to electric polarization of a thin uniform dielectric cover. To illustrate the main potential application of artificial magnetic conductors, we concentrate on the perfect-absorption regime, achieved by adjusting the loss factor of the artificial magnetic conductor to match its real input impedance to free space. We provide approximate analytical design formulas and introduce a simple equivalent circuit to explain the physical mechanism of emulation of magnetic response and perfect absorption of light. A prototype of a nearly perfect absorber for optical (from green to ultraviolet) frequencies is designed and experimentally tested. The results confirm the theoretical predictions and show polarization insensitivity and angular independence of response in a wide range of incidence angles.