Investigation of the near field distribution in circular nanostructures using Stokes polarization states

In this paper, the near field distribution patterns formed from nanostripe corral and half spiral are investigated. Various near field distribution patterns are generated owning to the interference of propagating surface plasmon waves that emerged from the nanoslits or nanostripe. The half spiral nanoslits are illuminated with Stokes polarizations. Each polarization state shows a different field pattern at different locations on the surface of metal film. This is due to the excitation of surface plasmon waves at different parts of the nanostructures when illuminated with different types of polarization states. The same Stokes polarization states are also illuminated on a nanostripe corral structure. In this case, dipolar field distributions are observed when illuminated with different linear polarization states, while optical vortices are observed for circular polarization. It is believed that these interesting field patterns due to different arrangements of nanostructures could be used for near field imaging and polarization sensing.     

Resonant waveguide grating: Analysis of polarization independent filtering

We investigate the property of polarization independent reflection using a 1D grating. It is shown to be possible, by choosing the correct parameters of the structure and angle of incidence to adjust the bandwidth of the reflection curves for both polarizations in such a way that these coincide. We expect that the found polarization-independent narrow band filter can be used as a component for WDM applications.     

Polarization-independent triangular-groove fused-silica gratings with high efficiency at a wavelength of 1550 nm

We describe polarization-independent triangular-groove fused-silica gratings illuminated by incident lights in the C + L bands as (de)multiplexers for dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) application. The physical mechanisms of the grating can be shown clearly by using the simplified modal method with consideration of the corresponding accumulated average phase difference of two excited propagating grating modes, which illustrates that the grating structure depends mainly on the ratio of the average effective indices difference to the incident wavelength. Exact grating profile is optimized by using the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA). With the optimized grating parameters, the grating exhibits diffraction efficiencies of greater than 90% under TE- and TM-polarized incident lights for 101 nm spectral bandwidths (1500-1601 nm) and it can reach an efficiency of more than 99% for both polarizations at a wavelength of 1550 nm. Without loss of metal absorption, coating of dielectric film layers, the designed triangular-groove fused-silica grating should be of great interest for DWDM application.     

Unidirectional transmission realized by two nonparallel gratings made of isotropic media

We realize a unidirectional transmission by cascading two nonparallel gratings (NPGs) made of isotropic, lossless, and linear media. For a pair of orthogonal linear polarizations, one of the gratings is designed as a polarizer, which is a reflector for one polarization and a transmitter for the other; another grating is designed as a polarization converter, which converts most of one polarized incident wave into another polarized transmitted wave. It is demonstrated by numerical calculation that more than 85% of the incident light energy can be transmitted with less than 1% transmission in the opposite direction for linearly polarized light at normal incidence, and the relative bandwidth of the unidirectional transmission is nearly 9%. The maximum transmission contrast ratio between the two directions is 62 dB. Unlike one-way diffraction grating, the transmitted light of the NPGs is collinear with the incident light, but their polarizations are orthogonal.     

倾斜光纤光栅谱特性

基于倾斜光纤光栅耦合模理论,采用数值分析法研究了前后向导模耦合时倾斜角度和调制深度对倾斜光纤光栅反射谱的影响,以及导模和辐射模耦合时针对不同的入射光偏振态在倾斜角度、调制深度、光栅长度等不同时倾斜光纤光栅透射谱(或反射谱)的特性.研究结果表明,在前后向导模耦合时,不同偏振态入射光的光谱几乎相同;而对于辐射模耦合,由于反射谱的包络受消光系数的调制,而不同偏振态入射光的消光系数不同,并且倾斜角度越大不同偏振态的入射光的消光系数差别越大,故在研究辐射模耦合时需要将偏振态予以考虑.     

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.     

倾斜光纤光栅谱特性

基于倾斜光纤光栅耦合模理论,采用数值分析法研究了前后向导模耦合时倾斜角度和调制深度对倾斜光纤光栅反射谱的影响,以及导模和辐射模耦合时针对不同的入射光偏振态在倾斜角度、调制深度、光栅长度等不同时倾斜光纤光栅透射谱(或反射谱)的特性.研究结果表明,在前后向导模耦合时,不同偏振态入射光的光谱几乎相同;而对于辐射模耦合,由于反射谱的包络受消光系数的调制,而不同偏振态入射光的消光系数不同,并且倾斜角度越大不同偏振态的入射光的消光系数差别越大,故在研究辐射模耦合时需要将偏振态予以考虑.     

Polarizing beam splitter of deep-etched triangular-groove fused-silica gratings

We investigated the use of a deep-etched fused-silica grating with triangular-shaped grooves as a highly efficient polarizing beam splitter (PBS). A triangular-groove PBS grating is designed at a wavelength of 1550 nm to be used in optical communication. When it is illuminated in Littrow mounting, the transmitted TE- and TM-polarized waves are mainly diffracted in the minus-first and zeroth orders, respectively. The design condition is based on the average differences of the grating mode indices, which is verified by using rigorous coupled-wave analysis. The designed PBS grating is highly efficient over the C+L band range for both TE and TM polarizations (>97.68%). It is shown that such a triangular-groove PBS grating can exhibit a higher diffraction efficiency, a larger extinction ratio, and less reflection loss than the binary-phase fused-silica PBS grating.     

A detailed study of metallic surface-relief grating

This paper presents a more detailed interaction of an electromagnetics light with a metallic surface-relief subwavelength grating utilizing the rigorous coupled-wave analysis. The focus of this work is the accurate modeling of undetermined aspects of diffraction patterns produced by binary metallic grating structures, specially gold grating. First-order diffraction efficiency for rectangular-groove gold grating with equal groove and ridge widths are presented for various wavelengths as a function of period, groove depth, polarization and angle of incidence. We also studied diffraction efficiency of both of TE and TM polarization modes against increasing of incident angle as well as TE polarization against increment of grating period. As a result, very low reflectivity at zero-order was found out for TE and TM polarizations at the pitch of Λ = 2λ. Having been studied diffraction efficiency of metallic surface-relief gratings, we also examined polarization-dependent efficiency of diffraction orders, for different groove depths. Simulation results have been completely presented.     

Theoretical reflective performance of a sandwiched two-layer grating polarizer

The reflective polarizer is described by a sandwiched two-layer grating with a metal slab. Such a new polarizer is aimed to improve the performance of a reflective grating-based polarizer. The grating is optimized with the usual duty cycle of 0.5, where TE and TM polarizations are reflected in the –1st and the 0th diffraction orders, respectively. With optimized grating parameters, the extinction ratio can reach 45.5 dB and 41.9 dB in two diffraction orders, which are greatly improved compared with the conventional reported surface grating polarizer with the simple structure. Attractive merits of the new design are high efficiency, high extinction ratio, wide incident wavelength bandwidth for TE polarization, and wide angular range for TM polarization. Numerical results are expected to open new opportunities for the design of a grating-based polarizer with the enhanced performance by the complicated grating configuration.     

Design and analysis of multilayered structures with metal-dielectric gratings for reflection resonance and color generation

A multilayered structure incorporating a metal-dielectric subwavelength grating, with the characteristic of polarization separation for visible light and the capability of creating reflection resonance and distinctive polarization-dependent color effects, is proposed. Its reflection resonance and color for TE and TM polarizations are discussed, as well as the influence of its structural parameters on them. Moreover, a reflection filter with characteristics of red for TE-polarized light, green for TM-polarized light, and yellow for daylight is designed and fabricated by replacing its grating region with a sinusoidal grating, and its related characteristics also are verified. The structure and its properties can achieve practical applications in various fields, such as color security, image reproduction, color filtering, and polarization-based information hiding.     

Polarization and Color Separator Using Binary Phase Grating with Subwavelength Period

A data projector using three liquid crystal display panels has a complex optical system. The illuminating optics separate the beam from a light source into three primary colors and separate those into opposite polarizations using multi-layer films and prisms. A reflection grating with the period of subwavelength has high diffraction efficiency for p polarized light and high regularly reflectance for s polarized light. The diffraction angle of a grating largely depends on the wavelength, because a diffractive optical element (DOE) has large chromatic dispersion. The grating with the period of subwavelength can separate the unpolarized light into polarization components effectively using its polarization dependency and can separate white light into color components using its chromatic dispersion simultaneously. The grating makes the optical system simpler and smaller than those with conventional devices. In this paper the efficiency of polarization separation for the grating is calculated by a rigorous analytical method. Next, the condition for color separation is calculated by Snell#x0027;s law, and an optical system using a grating that performs polarization and color separation is proposed. Experimental results of the DOE fabricated are well matched with those of this simulation.     

Demonstration of polarization-independent resonant subwavelength grating filter arrays

We demonstrate a two-dimensional (2D) polarization-independent resonant subwavelength grating (RSG) in a filter array. RSGs, also called guided mode resonant filters, are traditionally one-dimensional gratings; however, this leads to TE and TM resonances at different wavelengths and with different spectral shape. A 2D grating can remove the polarization dependence at normal incidence, while maintaining the desirable RSG properties of high reflectivity, narrow passband, and low sidebands without ripple. We designed and fabricated 2D gratings with near-identical responses for both polarizations at normal incidence in the telecommunication band. Ninety percent reflectivity is achieved at the resonant wavelengths.     

Measuring Stokes parameters by means of a polarization grating

Ordinary gratings act on the amplitude and (or) the phase of a wave front. Polarization gratings produce instead a periodic modulation of the state of polarization. A simple grating of the latter type is constituted by a linear polarizer whose orientation varies periodically along a line. It is shown that, for a generic polarization state of the incident field, such a grating gives rise to first-order diffracted beams with counterrotating circular polarizations. It is also shown that such a grating can be used for measuring the Stokes parameters of a light beam in an achromatic manner. Several extensions are briefly discussed.     

Effects of shaded facets on the performance of metal-coated etched diffraction grating demultiplexer

A finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method combined with a periodic boundary condition is used to analyze the diffraction efficiency of an etched diffraction grating (EDG) demultiplexer coated with a metallic film at the backside. The numerical results show that the diffraction loss is mainly due to the scattering effect of shaded facets of a metal-coated grating at both the polarizations. However, the same shaded facets can produce a higher loss for a TM polarization than that for a TE polarization, which induces a higher polarization dependent loss (PDL) of the demultiplexer.     

Polarization beam splitter using a binary blazed grating coupler

A novel polarization beam splitter using a two-layer grating coupler is proposed and demonstrated. It can directly couple the normally incident light from fiber into two separate waveguides according to their polarization states while splitting them. It realizes high coupling efficiency and a good extinction ratio by using binary blazed grating couplers. The coupling length is less than 14 microm. The extinction ratio is better than 20 dB for both polarizations over a 40 nm wavelength range, and the coupling efficiencies for the two layers are 58% and 50%.     

基于亚波长光栅的VCSEL偏振控制研究

为了确定亚波长光栅在微电机械系统(MEMS)波长可调谐VCSEL不同位置(上DBR上表面、上DBR下表面以及内腔)中实现TE和TM偏振控制的光栅参数范围以及光栅在哪个位置时实现偏振控制最稳定,通过MATLAB建立MEMS波长可调VCSEL的模型,然后计算光栅在3种位置时上反射镜(包括空气隙和光栅)随光栅参数变化的反射率,以此来确定它们实现TE/TM稳定偏振的光栅参数范围(即高反射范围内的参数)。将各自的高反射所对应反射率减去相同光栅参数范围内TM/TE低反射对应的反射率,通过反射率差值确定光栅在哪种位置时MEMS波长可调谐VCSEL实现偏振是最稳定的。最后得出的结论是光栅在上DBR下表面几乎无法控制TM偏振,而将光栅放置于内腔中,无论是在TE偏振控制上还是TM偏振上都是最稳定的。在实现TE偏振稳定的参数范围内,TE的阈值增益比TM最小少10 cm~(-1);而在实现TM偏振稳定时,在TE偏振稳定的参数范围内,TE的阈值增益比TM最小少5 cm~(-1)。     

Calculation of parameters of diffraction polarizers

The results of calculations of two types of reflective polarizers made up of thin-film diffraction grating formed by birefringent plane-parallel elements are presented. One of the two orthogonal linear polarizations can be separated almost without any losses because of a strong zero-order reflection. A polarizer of the first type represents a grating formed by asperities of a dielectric coating with a columnar structure produced upon oblique deposition of the dielectric. The second polarizer represents a thin mica plate grating. In this case, comparison with previous experiments can be performed.     

Experimental demonstration of a narrowband, angular tolerant, polarization independent, doubly periodic resonant grating filter

Resonant grating filters are promising components for free-space narrowband filtering. Unfortunately, due to their weak angular tolerance, their performances are strongly deteriorated when they are illuminated with a standard collimated beam. Yet this problem can be overcome by resorting to a complex periodic pattern known as the doubly periodic grating [Lemarchand et al., Opt. Lett.23, 1149 (1998)]. We report what we believe to be the first experimental fabrication and characterization of a bidimensional doubly periodic grating filter. We obtained a 0.5 nm bandpass polarization independent reflection filter for telecom wavelengths (1520-1570 nm) that presents a transmittivity minimum of 18% with a standard incident collimated beam.     

Broadband and polarization-insensitive subwavelength grating reflector for the near-infrared region

We propose a polarization-insensitive and broadband subwavelength grating reflector based on a multilayer structure.The reflector has an overlapped high reflectivity(99.5%) bandwidth of 248 nm between the TE and the TM polarizations,which is much higher than the previously reported results.We believe this subwavelength grating reflector can be applied to unpolarized devices.