Abstract

The constituent elements of metasurfaces may be designed with explicit polarization dependence, making metasurfaces a fascinating platform for new polarization optics. In this work we show that a metasurface grating can be designed to produce arbitrarily specified polarization states on a set of defined diffraction orders given that the polarization of the incident beam is known. We also demonstrate that, when used in a reverse configuration, the same grating may be used as a parallel snapshot polarimeter, requiring a minimum of bulk polarization optics. We demonstrate its use in measuring partially polarized light, and show that it performs favorably in comparison to a commercial polarimeter. This work is of consequence in any application requiring lightweight, compact, and low-cost polarization optics, polarimetry, or polarization imaging.

Highlights

  • Polarization holds a role of paramount importance in countless areas of science and technology, in areas as diverse as atomic physics and fundamental light/matter interaction [1], fiber-optic telecommunications [2, 3], and polarization-resolved imaging [4, 5]

  • When the grating is used in reverse — that is, with the grating followed by a linear polarizer oriented at 45° — each diffraction order may be seen as a polarization state analyzer for its characteristic Stokes vector (Fig. 3(a), bottom)

  • A linear polarizer was rotated in front of the interferometer and the Stokes vector measured by the meta-grating computed

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Summary

Introduction

Polarization holds a role of paramount importance in countless areas of science and technology, in areas as diverse as atomic physics and fundamental light/matter interaction [1], fiber-optic telecommunications [2, 3], and polarization-resolved imaging [4, 5]. In contrast to previous work by us [20, 21] on terminating polarimeters and by others [22,23,24,25,26,27] on a variety of metasurface/metamaterial-based schemes, the present work allows for the generation and analysis of polarization on channels whose polarizations may themselves be arbitrarily specified, demonstrates full-Stokes vector determination (including partially polarized light), and provides a quantitative error analysis As such, it is of consequence for any application requiring low-cost, integrated polarimetry or polarization imaging and is a testament to the flexibility of metasurfaces in the realm of polarization optics

Principle of operation
Optimization
Polarization state generation
Metasurface polarimetry
Quantifying partially polarized light
Comparison with a commercial rotating-waveplate polarimeter
Parallel polarization state generation
Parallel polarimetry
Conclusion
Effect of fabrication imperfection on observed polarization ellipses
Additional detail on polarimeter comparison
Findings
Dependence of polarimetric accuracy on angle-of-incidence
Packaged prototype

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