Form birefringence in nanostructured micro-optical devices

Abstract

We present a detailed examination of the design and expected operation of an artificially birefringent material based around the nanostructured stack-and-draw fabrication technique developed recently. The expected degree of birefringence is estimated using a Finite Difference Time Domain simulation of the physical system and is shown to be in agreement with that predicted by a second order effective medium theory treatment of the nanostructured material. The effects of finite device dimensions are studied and an estimate of the required device thickness for a half-wave retardation is made.