Polarization-sensitive diffractive optical elements fabricated in BR films with femtosecond laser

Multi-photon product (F₅₄₀-state) of bacteriorhodopsin (BR) polymeric films excited by femtosecond laser shows permanently photoinduced birefringence and dichroism. Based on this property, polarization-sensitive diffractive optical elements (PDOEs), e.g., gratings, two-dimensional optical lattice, Bessel zone plate, were firstly fabricated and investigated in BR films by femtosecond laser multi-beam interference with rotationally symmetric pyramid lenses. These fabricated PDOEs are completely stable at room temperature. The dependence of diffraction efficiency on the incident polarization state was measured. The micro-structures of PDOEs were observed under polarization microscope, and the selective readout diffraction patterns from the polarization-multiplexed PDOEs were demonstrated.