Abstract
We present an analytical technique for designing integrated polarized light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and polarization-sensitive photodiodes (PD) based on hyperbolic metasurfaces (HMS) for the detection of optical activity. Leveraging effective medium theory and the scattering matrix method, we first derive the conditions for optimizing the transmission efficiency of an LED-integrated HMS and the absorption efficiency of a PD-integrated HMS. We then propose using a differential detection technique with orthogonally oriented PD-integrated HMS to measure optical activity in an extremely compact volume. Finally, we perform an estimation of system performance and find that, relative to state-of-the-art polarimeters, a reduction of complexity can be achieved without sacrificing resolution. The results hold merit for reducing the size and cost of polarimeters and associated polarimetric sensing systems, which play vital roles in the pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences.
Highlights
Optical activity arises due to the interaction between the electric and magnetic dipoles of chiral molecules [1,2]
In this letter we present an architecture for detecting optical activity based on engineering the linear dichroism (LD) in diode-integrated hyperbolic metasurfaces (HMS) [10]
Optical activity may be observed as the rotation of the plane of polarization of polarized light passing through chiral molecules dissolved in solution [1]
Summary
Optical activity arises due to the interaction between the electric and magnetic dipoles of chiral molecules [1,2]. When a preponderance of right- or left-handed chiral molecules is present in a solution, linearly polarized light passing through the solution rotates, providing a fingerprint from which information about the solution can be inferred. Polarimetry is the fundamental technique used to characterize chiral solutions, enabling knowledge of the concentration of enantiomer-pure solutions, the enantiomer purity of a solution of known concentration, and the specific rotation of new substances [1,2,3]. State-of-the-art polarimeters directly measure circular dichroism of substances by alternately measuring the absorption of left- and right-handed circular polarization [4]. A natural question is whether recent innovations in nanophotonics can be leveraged to reduce the size and cost of state-of-the-art polarimeters, without diminishing their performance
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