Chip-integrated plasmonic flat optics for mid-infrared full-Stokes polarization detection

Jing Bai, Chu Wang, Xiahui Chen, Ali Basiri, Chao Wang, Yu Yao

Photonics Research · 2019 · 93 citations · 49 references

Concepts

TL;DR

Flat optics offers a compact way to control the phase, amplitude, and polarization of light. We demonstrate chip‑integrated metasurface devices that detect mid‑infrared polarization states. Six microscale linear and circular polarization filters, each <600 nm thick and vertically stacked, are integrated on a single chip to retrieve all four Stokes parameters with high accuracy, and the designs can be tuned across the mid‑IR spectrum for on‑chip integration with detectors. The devices enable on‑chip mid‑IR polarimeters and imaging systems useful for clinical diagnosis, target detection, and space exploration.

Abstract

Flat optics presents a new path to control the phase, amplitude, and polarization state of light with ultracompact devices. Here we demonstrate chip-integrated metasurface devices for polarization detection of mid-infrared light with arbitrary polarization states. Six high-performance microscale linear and circular polarization filters based on vertically stacked plasmonic metasurfaces (with total thickness <600  nm) are integrated on the same chip to obtain all four Stokes parameters of light with high accuracy. The device designs can be tailored to operate at any wavelength in the mid-infrared spectral region and are feasible for on-chip integration with mid-infrared (mid-IR) photodetectors and imager arrays. Our work will enable on-chip mid-IR polarimeters and polarimetric imaging systems, which are highly desirable for many applications, such as clinical diagnosis, target detection, and space exploration.

References

49