Design of wire-grid polarizer with effective medium theory

A design concept of a wire-grid polarizer, which is based on the effective-medium theory, has been proposed. The effective indices of a wire-grid grating are evaluated with the effective-medium theory. The results show that, the wire-grid grating acts as a metal for TE polarization, but it behaves like a dielectric material for TM polarization. According to the different effective optical properties of the wire-grid grating for the different polarizations, a wire-grid polarizer with a high polarization ratio can be obtained by enhancing both the transmission for TM polarization and the reflection for TE polarization.     

Incident angle and temperature dependence of WSi wire-grid polarizer

The dependences of the incident angle and thermal durability of a tungsten silicide (WSi) wire-grid polarizer were examined. A WSi grating with a 0.5 fill factor, 260 nm depth, and 400 nm period was formed on a Si surface using two-beam interference and dry etching. The TM transmission spectrum of the fabricated element was greater than 60% at the incident angle of θ = 40° (the angle between the incident direction and the perpendicular axis to the grating direction) in the 4–10 μm wavelength range. An extinction ratio of 22.2 dB was achieved at 2.5 μm wavelength. Additionally, results show that this polarizer has higher thermal resistance than that of commercial infrared polarizers. Therefore, this polarizer is effective for taking a polarized thermal image of high temperatures.     

Terahertz transmission characteristics of double wire-grid polarizer on low-loss polyethylene substrate

We fabricated a double metallic wire-grid polarizer consisting of micrometer-pitch Cu grating on both sides of low-loss polyethylene substrate by simple electroplating and lithography micro-processing techniques. The performance of transmission was measured using a terahertz (THz) time domain spectroscopy system. The mixed polarization effects of surface plasmon polaritons in an azimuthally rotated grating were investigated. The polarization dependence of both amplitude and phase shift on frequency was demonstrated in the wide range of 0.1?C3 THz, and the extinction ratio is over 22 dB.     

Fabrication of a mid-IR wire-grid polarizer by direct imprinting on chalcogenide glass

A mid-IR wire-grid polarizer with a 500 nm pitch was fabricated on a low toxic chalcogenide glass (Sb-Ge-Sn-S system) by the thermal imprinting of periodic grating followed by the thermal evaporation of Al metal. After imprinting, deposition of Al on the grating at an oblique angle produced a wire-grid polarizer. The fabricated polarizer showed polarization with TM transmittance greater than 60% at 5-9 μm wavelengths and an extinction ratio greater than 20 dB at 3.5-11 μm wavelengths. This polarizer with a high extinction ratio can be fabricated more simply and less expensively than conventional IR polarizers.     

Terahertz broadband polarizer using bilayer subwavelength metal wire-grid structure on polyimide film

A terahertz(THz) broadband polarizer using bilayer subwavelength metal wire-grid structure on both sides of polyimide film is simulated by the finite-difference time-domain method. We analyze the effect of film thickness, material loss, and lateral shift between two metallic gratings on the performance of the THz polarizer. Bilayer wire-grid polarizers are fabricated by a simple way of laser induced and non-electrolytic plating with copper. The THz time-domain spectroscopy measurements show that in 0.2–1.6 THz frequency range, the extinction ratio is better than 45 d B, the average extinction ratio reaches 53 d B, and the transmittance exceeds 67%, which shows great advantage over conventional single wire-grid THz polarizer.     

Common-path double-pass optical interferometry using a wire-grid polarizer as a reference mirror

A novel common-path double-pass optical interferometer that employs a wire-grid polarizer (WGP) as a reference mirror is presented. When a laser beam polarized at 45° relative to the wire grid is incident on the WGP, the polarization component parallel to the grid direction (s-polarized beam) is reflected and is used as a reference beam. The perpendicular component (p-polarized beam) passes through the WGP coupled with a quarter-wave plate and serves as a probe beam, with its polarization transformed as p, right-circular, s, left-circular, and p, to irradiate the sample surface twice in order to double the phase change due to displacement of the sample. This beam is then retransmitted through the WGP, where it recombines and interferes with the reference beam. Preliminary experiments demonstrate that the WGP performs successfully as a reference mirror, and that the interferometer has a potential displacement sensitivity as low as 0.1 nm.     

Al wire-grid polarizer using the s-polarization resonance effect at the 0.8-microm-wavelength band

An aluminum wire-grid polarizer whose period is 0.39 microm has been fabricated on a quartz substrate by electron-beam direct-writing lithography and the lift-off method. By using the s -polarization resonance effect and optimizing structural parameters, characteristics such as a loss of less than 20% and an extinction ratio larger than 1000 have been experimentally obtained at the 0.8- microm -wavelength band. Theoretical analysis is performed and found to be consistent with the experimental results.     

Acousto-optic polarizer

In the paper theoretical bases are presented, as well as their experimental verification, concerning an idea of a new type acousto-optic light ellipticity modulator, based on light diffraction phenomenon by ultrasonic waves, within the so-called intermediate diffraction regime. The experimental data obtained really good match relevant theoretical predictions, and the device examined enables a continuous light ellipticity variation from 0 up to 1, with low diffraction loses and for low electric voltage applied to ultrasonic transducer.     

Integrated optical polarizer

Theoretical and experimental investigations of an integrated optical polarize are reported. The principle of the polarizer resides in transforming a waveguide into a leaky waveguide by depositing a dielectric multilayer superstrate comprising materials with higher refractive indices. The dielectric multilayer is so designed that TM modes are transmitted as the result of Brewster's law and interference effects, whereas TE modes are reflected back into the waveguide.     

保偏光纤偏振器

利用保偏光纤的弯曲损耗特性绕制而成的光纤偏振器已有过报道。但文献[1]中报道的偏振器尺寸太大(φ=100mm),不利于光纤陀螺的小型化。本文介绍一种采用“熊猫”型光纤制成的偏振器,其尺寸较小(φ=30mm),消光比可达到33dB。     

Wide band polarizer with suspended silicon grating

In this paper, we propose an ultra broadband polarizer operating in the telecommunication wavelength band; this device consisting a single silicon suspended resonant grating layer is designed with using the inverse mathematical method and rigorous vector diffraction theory. It is shown from our calculations that the device presents extremely high reflection (R > 98%) for TE polarization light and high transmission (T > 98%) for TM polarization over ∼330 nm wavelength range; moreover, the extinction ratio is ∼100 in the central wavelength 1550 nm. Furthermore, it is found with Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis (RCWA) and near field distribution that the extremely wide band property for TE polarization is due to the excitation of strong modulation guided modes in the design wavelength range.     

Broadband venetian blind polarizer with dual vanes

During development of a Venetian Blind polarizer, high reflections and substantial pattern deformation were noted. Analysis showed that when the polarizer was illuminated slightly off axis, a degenerate mode was excited. This mode is resonant at the design center frequency, and was the cause of the problems. A design developed using dual vanes has been shown to be free of the problem. It also has greater bandwidth.     

Silicon Raman polarizer

We theoretically investigate the polarization properties of Raman amplifiers based on silicon-on-insulator waveguides, and show that it is possible to realize a waveguide Raman polarizer. The Raman polarizer is a special type of Raman amplifier with the property of producing an amplified and highly repolarized beam when it is fed by a relatively weak and unpolarized signal.     

Mid-infrared single-photon counting

We report a procedure to detect mid-infrared single photons at 4.65 microm by means of a two-stage scheme based on sum-frequency generation, by using a periodically poled lithium niobate nonlinear crystal and a silicon avalanche photodiode. An experimental investigation shows that, in addition to a high timing resolution, this technique yields a detection sensitivity of 1.24 pW with 63 mW of net pump power.     

A quasi-optical universal polarizer

This paper describes the design and measurement of a quasi-optical universal polarizer for use in the 100–170 GHz frequency range. The instrument may be configured to convert an arbitrary elliptical polarization state into a linearly polarized stale suitable for feeding a fixed waveguide receiver. A transmission loss of 0.15 dB was measured at 140 GHz and the rejection of the orthogonal polarization state was greater than 50 dB.The author would like to express his thanks to John Fessey and John Maduzak for useful discussions.     

Rotating polarizer analyzer ellipsometer with a fixed compensator

Recently, a rotating polarizer analyzer ellipsometer (RPAE) in which the two optical elements rotate in opposite directions with the same angular speed has been proposed. Calculated optical constants of some materials obtained from this ellipsometric configuration were in good agreement with published values except in the low photon energy regime. We here improve the structure by adding a fixed compensator after the rotating polarizer. The optical constants of c-Si calculated from the noisy signal in the low energy regime show a high reduction in the percent error when compared to that obtained from the previous structure that does not contain the fixed compensator.     

一种大入射角容差宽带薄膜偏振器

通过组合长波通和短波通膜堆的方法,设计并制备了一种大入射角容差宽带薄膜偏振器。该薄膜为HfO2/SiO2结构,采用无离子束辅助的电子束蒸发工艺,蒸发金属铪和SiO2制得。对该膜的透射率光谱、激光损伤阈值和形貌进行了研究,结果显示其不仅在1044~1084 nm波段内都具有很高的对比度,而且在1064 nm波长、 53~60的入射角范围内具有很大的消光比和激光损伤阈值,且损伤特性基本不随入射角变化。该偏振器的P光损伤阈值约为20 J/cm2,损伤主要由基板与薄膜界面处的纳米级缺陷所引起;S光损伤阈值约为45 J/cm2,损伤主要由激光辐照下薄膜表面的等离子烧蚀现象引起。     

Spin torque nano-oscillators with a perpendicular spin polarizer

We present an overview in the understanding of spin-transfer torque(STT) induced magnetization dynamics in spintorque nano-oscillator(STNO) devices. The STNO contains an in-plane(IP) magnetized free layer and an out-of-plane(OP) magnetized spin polarizing layer. After a brief introduction, we first use mesoscopic micromagnetic simulations,which are based on the Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equation including the STT effect, to specify how a spin-torque term may tune the magnetization precession orbits of the free layer, showing that the oscillator frequency is proportional to the current density and the z-component of the free layer magnetization. Next, we propose a pendulum-like model within the macrospin approximation to describe the dynamic properties in such type of STNOs. After that, we further show the procession dynamics of the STNOs excited by IP and OP dual spin-polarizers. Both the numerical simulations and analytical theory indicate that the precession frequency is linearly proportional to the spin-torque of the OP polarizer only and is irrelevant to the spin-torque of the IP polarizer. Finally, a promising approach of coordinate transformation from the laboratory frame to the rotation frame is introduced, by which the nonstationary OP magnetization precession process is therefore transformed into the stationary process in the rotation frame. Through this method, a promising digital frequency shift-key modulation technique is presented, in which the magnetization precession can be well controlled at a given orbit as well as its precession frequency can be tuned with the co-action of spin polarized current and magnetic field(or electric field) pulses.