Laser-written wave plates inside the silicon enabled by stress-induced birefringence.

Abstract

Laser writing enables optical functionality by altering the optical properties of materials. To achieve this goal, efforts generally focus on laser-written regions. It has also been shown that birefringence surrounding the modified regions can be exploited for achieving functionality. The effect has been used to fabricate wave plates in glass, with significant potential for other materials. Here, we establish analogous stress control and birefringence engineering inside silicon. We first develop a robust analytical model enabling the prediction of birefringence maps from arbitrary laser-written patterns. Then, we tailor three-dimensional laser lithography to create the first, to the best of our knowledge, polarization-control optics inside silicon.