Experimental realization of short-wavelength infrared half wave retarder fabricated from ZnO single crystal plates

Abstract

With increasing interest in studying fundamental phenomena at near-infrared (NIR) and short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) frequencies, it is essential to find optical devices which can alter polarization state in the NIR and SWIR radiation range. However, simple optical components such as wave plates capable of generating and controlling polarization sates in the NIR and SWIR radiation are rare. Therefore, our use of channelled spectra of polarized white photons is reported to extract the dispersion of the phase birefringence Δnp(λ) of the 112‾0 and 11‾00 plates of ZnO single crystal acting as multiple order wave plates. The phase birefringence Δnp(λ) of the 112‾0 and 11‾00 ZnO plates was extracted using a calculation procedure named the wavenumber difference method. The correctness of the birefringence data obtained was also confirmed by recalculating the plate thickness using the Jones matrix technique. Furthermore, the birefringence group velocity factor of the 112‾0 and 11‾00 ZnO plates was also extracted from the channelled spectra of polarized white photons using simple method. For both 112‾0 and 11‾00 ZnO plates, a broad spectral full width at half maximum (FWHM) is observed in SWIR region (1100–2500 nm), therefore, 112‾0 and 11‾00 ZnO plates can act as if they are functioning as a zero-order wave plate.