Measurement of duty cycles of metal grating masks formed on dielectric substrates

A nondestructive method for measuring the duty cycles of metal grating masks formed on top of dielectric substrates is proposed. For a near-normal angle of incidence, the zeroth diffracted order transmission efficiency curves for both TE and TM polarized probe lights, as a function of duty cycles, behave linearly in the duty cycle ranging from 0 to 1. By comparing the measured efficiencies, or the ratio of zeroth-order transmission efficiency for TM polarization to that for TE polarization, with that of the rigorous-coupled wave analysis (RCWA) method for a fixed grating period and depth, one can determine the duty cycle of the grating. By selecting the probe light appropriately, the measurement errors originating from deviations of the incident angle and grating depth can be negligible. This method is applicable for all metal gratings, which are not easy to measure nondestructively due to fine grooves smaller than the wavelength. This method is simple, accurate, nondestructive, and low-cost. The results of experimental verification are presented and show excellent agreement with scanning electron microscope images.     

Color separation of high-density dielectric rectangular grating in the Fresnel diffraction region

A high-density dielectric rectangular grating is designed for color separation in a Fresnel diffraction field. The Fresnel field distribution is analyzed and the optimization conditions for color separation are given. The process of the modes propagating and energy exchanging with the diffraction orders are expressed by modal method. The color separation for different polarizations can be realized. The energy efficiency is 96.3% at the 633 nm wavelength and 86.9% at the 488 mm wavelength for both TE polarizations, while the energy efficiency is theoretically 96.3% at the 633 nm wavelength for TE polarization and 90.6% at the 488 nm wavelength for TM polarization. The field distributions are scanned by the near-field scanning optical microscopy, and the efficiency is 71.2% for the 633 nm wavelength and 67.3% for the 488 nm wavelength for both TE polarizations experimentally.     

Polarization-independent wideband mixed metal dielectric reflective gratings

A polarization-independent wideband mixed metal dielectric grating with high efficiency of the -1st order is analyzed and designed in Littrow mounting. The mixed metal dielectric grating consists of a rectangular-groove transmission dielectric grating on the top layer and a highly reflective mirror composed of a connecting layer and a metal film. Simplified modal analysis is carried out, and it shows that when the phase difference accumulated by the two propagating modes is odd multiples of π/2, the diffraction efficiency of the -1st order will be high. Selecting grating depth and duty cycle for satisfying the phase difference condition for both TE (electric field parallel to grooves) and TM (magnetic field parallel to grooves) polarizations, a polarization-independent high-efficiency grating can be designed. Using rigorous coupled-wave analysis and a simulated annealing algorithm, geometric parameters of the reflective grating are exactly obtained. The optimized grating for operation around a wavelength of 800 nm exhibits diffraction efficiencies higher than 90% for both TE and TM polarizations over a 120 nm wavelength bandwidth. The simplified modal analysis can be applied in other types of reflective gratings if the top layer is a dielectric transmission grating.     

Broadband and high efficiency metal–multilayer dielectric grating based on non-quarter wave coatings as reflective mirror for 800 nm

A broadband and high efficiency metal–multilayer dielectric grating (MMDG), which was used to compress and stretch an ultra-short laser pulse in a chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) system, was designed. The diffraction characteristics of the MMDG were analyzed using the method of rigorous coupled wave analysis. The reflective mirror used for the broadband and high diffraction grating is made up of non-quarter wave metal–multi-layer dielectric coatings. Taking the diffraction efficiency of the ?1 order as merit function, the parameters such as groove depth, residual thickness and reflective mirror were optimized to obtain broadband and high diffraction efficiency. The optimized MMDG shows an ultra-broadband working spectrum with an average efficiency exceeding 97% over 120?nm wavelength centered at 800?nm and TE polarization. The optimized MMDG should have potential application in CPA systems.     

Analysis of the focal characteristics of cylindrical lenses made of anisotropically dielectric material based on rigorous electromagnetic theory

Abstract

The focal characteristics of refractive cylindrical lenses made of anisotropically dielectric material (uniaxial crystal) are analysed based on rigorous electromagnetic theory and the boundary element method. The performances of the lenses with different f numbers are appraised for both incident waves of the TE (transverse electric) and TM (transverse magnetic) polarizations. Numerical results show that the focal performance of this kind of lens for the TE polarization and the TM polarization of incident light wave is a difference, in particular, different focal lengths, owing to the anisotropy of the material. However, for the conventional isotropic lens, the focal features for both the TE and TM polarizations are the same. It is anticipated that this new kind of lens proposed for the first time may serve as a light switching device with high speed used in the micro-optical communication.     

Design of retrodiffraction gratings for polarization-insensitive and polarization-sensitive characteristics by using the Taguchi method

We present the design of retrodiffraction gratings that utilize total internal reflection (TIR) in a lamellar configuration to achieve high performance for both TE and TM polarized light and polarization-sensitive performance for gratings behaving as polarizer filters; the design was based on rigorous coupled wave analysis (RCWA) and the Taguchi method. The components can thus be fabricated from a single dielectric material and do not have to be coated with a metallic or dielectric film layer to enhance the reflectance. The effects of the structural and optical parameters of lamellar gratings were investigated, and the TIR gratings in a lamellar configuration were structurally and optically optimized in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) and a statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the refractive index, grating period, filling factor, and grating depth as control factors and the estimated efficiency by RCWA as a noise factor. For more accurate robustness, a two-step optimization process was used for each purpose. For TIR gratings designed to perform similarly for TE and TM incident polarization, the -1st-order efficiencies were estimated to be up to 92.0% and 88.5% for TE and TM polarization, respectively. Also, for the TIR gratings designed to achieve polarization-sensitive performance when behaving as a polarizer filters, the -1st-order diffraction efficiencies for TE and TM polarization were estimated to be up to 95.5% and 2.7%, respectively. From these analysis results, it was confirmed that the Taguchi method shows feasibility for an optimization approach to a technique for designing optical devices.     

Reduction of polarization-induced artifacts in grating-based spectrometers

An optical device that converts unpolarized light into a single polarization state is described. The device is based on a polarizing beam splitter that separates the two polarization directions. The beam splitter is combined with two pairs of equilateral prisms that are used to collimate the two beams in terms of both propagation and polarization directions. When it is used in combination with a blazed diffraction grating, this device is shown to effectively remove the polarization dependence of the first-order diffracted power. The device has an insertion loss of approximately 14% for purely s-polarized light. However, for unpolarized light incident upon the two gratings studied here, the increased throughput of the p-polarized component leads to an average relative gain in overall efficiency of 13%-19%, depending on the grating. In collimating the two polarization directions, the device may cause a reduction in spectral resolution for a rectangular entrance slit. As a result, the device is more likely to find use in spectrometers that have a circular aperture, such as that provided by an optical fiber.     

Design of a high-efficiency grating coupler based on a silicon nitride overlay for silicon-on-insulator waveguides

A waveguide grating coupler based on a silicon nitride overlay at 1.55 μm for TE polarization is designed with no experimental demonstration. Its coupling efficiency for a fiber is 76%, the 1 dB bandwidth is 75 nm, and the coupling angle is 10°. The effects of different device parameters on the coupling performance for the grating coupler are discussed. The coupling efficiency of our grating coupler is almost equal, yet the 1 dB spectral bandwidth is around 25 nm broader, as compared with the grating coupler design based on a poly-silicon overlay. The coupling performance of our coupling device could still be further improved. The grating coupler presented in this paper is applicable to the optical coupling in nanophotonic integrated circuits.     

Wide-angle transmissive filter based on a guided-mode resonant grating

A wide-angle color filter for TE-polarization is proposed based on a guided-mode resonant grating selectively coated with a metal film. The effects of the structure parameters to the resonant transmission characteristics are discussed by the rigorous coupled-wave analysis. Its optimal structure was given for a green color filter with a peak transmission of 77.6%, a full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of ～120 nm, and a good angular tolerance up to ±40°. Compared to the similar structure with a nonresonant dielectric grating, it decreases the FWHM effectively for the resonance induced by the guided-mode resonant grating. The numerical results indicate that the designed structure has a good wide-angle transmission performance.     

Design and characteristics of polarization-insensitive resonant gratings for color filtering

A method of designing polarization-insensitive color filters with guided-mode resonance grating is presented. The influence of incident conditions on exciting waveguide mode is investigated, and we find that polarization insensitivity may occur at the full conical incidence. Using rigorous coupled-wave analysis, we mainly analyze the effects of waveguide thickness and fill factor on the diffracted efficiency of the grating filter. The final structural parameters of the devices for three primary colors are collected after optimization, and the calculated results show that the spectral reflectance of each color filter is basically identical for different polarization states of incident light. Moreover, field analysis by the finite-difference time-domain technique indicates that two symmetric modes are excited between the waveguide layer and substrate under full conical incidence, which is coincident with the previous theoretical study. The reported work will eliminate the restriction of polarization-dependence of color filters and greatly expand their application range.     

Tunable unidirectional light transmission in a graphene–metal hybrid metamaterial

Graphene’s unique properties, such as strong plasmonic response and electrostatic doping, enable control over the properties of light in an active way. In this paper, we propose a graphene–metal hybrid metamaterial, which exhibits tunable wideband unidirectional light transmission. The hybrid metamaterial consists of a complementary split-ring graphene and a metallic grating. Unidirectional optical transmission with a wide bandwidth of 14.8% of the central frequency at 29.3?THz and a large tuning range of 6.6?THz is found to be achievable in simulations. The light reflection and graphene absorption are shown to be the major factors limiting the efficiency of unidirectional transmission. A large electron scattering time of graphene is beneficial for improving the transmission efficiency. The graphene–metal hybrid metamaterial enables active control over the propagation of light, which could be of interest for infrared isolation, polarization transformation, etc.     

Narrowband, polarization-independent free-space wave notch filter

A two-dimensional-corrugated-slab-waveguide add/drop filter providing 100% resonant reflection at 1.55 microm wavelength for both TE and TM polarizations with identical FWHM is designed. The fabricated device exhibits a reflectivity spectrum of more than 95% peak reflection for both polarizations at 1.537 microm. The coupling scheme involves the TE0 guided mode only; it is made relatively tolerant by means of a double-sided crossed grating.     

Polarization dependence of diffraction gratings that have total internal reflection facets

The total internal reflection (TIR) grating is an integrated optical diffraction grating designed to achieve high efficiency for the retrodiffracted order by use of total internal reflection twice within a groove of the grating rather than by use of metalized grooves. Numerical calculations are presented for both TE and TM polarizations of incident light. When the TIR grating was used in the -mth-order Littrow mount with m > 13, the diffraction efficiency was found to decrease linearly with 1/m. The polarization dependence of the retrodiffraction efficiency exceeds 3 dB for TIR gratings formed in silica glass (n = 1.5) but is very small for gratings with InP-based technology (n = 3.2).     

Volume grating couplers: polarization and loss effects

We analyze the polarization-dependent performance and the loss performance of volume grating couplers using a leaky-mode approach in conjunction with rigorous coupled-wave analysis for two configurations: the volume grating in the cover layer and the volume grating in the waveguide. The angular dependence of TE and TM polarization coupling efficiency is studied, and designs for polarization-dependent and polarization-independent couplers are presented for both configurations. Polarization-dependent couplers are obtained with an outcoupling angle close to normal. Polarization-independent couplers are obtained with outcoupling angles away from normal, 46.7 deg in the case of a volume grating in the cover layer and 54.4 deg in the case of a volume grating in the waveguide. The effect of loss on coupler performance is also analyzed. It is found that, for cases of practical importance, the effect of lossy coupler materials is small. The estimated loss for a commercially available material is 5 dB/cm. For TE-polarized light and the volume grating in the waveguide, a loss of this magnitude reduces the coupling efficiency by less than 3%, whereas in the case of the volume grating in the cover layer, it reduces the coupling efficiency by less than 0.3%.     

On the Properties of Surface Plasmon Polarization Beam Splitters

Abstract

The transmission and cross-coupling characteristics of a surface-plasmon-based polarization beam splitter with multimode interlay between two polished optical fibre blocks are presented. Through the continuous monitoring of the characteristics as a function of interlay refractive index and wavelength it was found that the device is symmetrical in terms of optical power coupling in the cross direction and asymmetrical in terms of transmission, with respect to input launch direction. The fibre fixed in the metal-coated block has a transverse electric (TE) mode transmission which is independent of the refractive index of interlay. The transmission of the other (uncovered) block shows resonance-type interaction for both TE and transverse magnetic modes owing to evanescent field coupling to the multimode interlay.     

Design of transmission blazed binary gratings for optical limiting with the form-birefringence theory

The structure of transmission blazed binary gratings for optical limiting is designed with the form-birefringence theory. This kind of grating has subwavelength features, can imitate the transmission blazed grating effectively, and has higher efficiencies than a transmission blazed grating with a subwavelength structure. The diffraction efficiencies are calculated and analyzed. For the normal incident light with 10.6 microm wavelength, the transmissivities for the designed grating at 0 degrees deviation angle for TE and TM polarizations are 0.05% and 5.09%, respectively, which are basically identical to the results of the finite-difference time-domain method. The diffraction efficiencies of the first transmitted order for TE and TM polarizations are 93.95% and 83.88%, respectively.     

Realization of integrated polarizer and color filters based on subwavelength metallic gratings using a hybrid numerical scheme

This study realizes integrated polarizer and RGB (red, green, and blue) color filters using single- and multiple-layered subwavelength metallic grating structures. A hybrid numerical scheme based on the rigorous coupled-wave analysis method and a genetic algorithm is used to determine the optimal values of the grating period, filling factor, and grating thickness of three different grating structures, namely, a single-layer grating, a double-layer grating, and a double-layer grating with a lateral shift. The optical performance of the various structures is evaluated and compared in terms of the transmission efficiency at the center wavelengths 700.0?nm, 546.1?nm, and 435.8?nm of red, green, and blue light, respectively, and the extinction ratio over the visible wavelength spectrum (380-780?nm). It is shown that the double-layer grating achieves a transmission efficiency of about 50% and an extinction ratio of around 60?dB. Thus, this grating structure provides a convenient and effective means of achieving the polarizing and filtering functions in LCD panels using a single device.     

Measured and simulated performance of a ceramic micromechanical beam steering device at 94 GHz

We report the first experimental demonstration of a transmission-mode micromechanical beam steering device for use in standoff terahertz imaging and spectroscopy. The device was constructed by laminating laser-cut 96% alumina sheets to form two plates with interlocking rectangular gratings of 762 microm period and was characterized at 94 GHz in a free-space measurement setup with an automated elevation scan. Plate tilts as great as 6 degrees deflected the transmitted beam by 6 degrees for the transverse electric (TE) polarization and by 4 degrees for the transverse magnetic polarization. Finite-difference time-domain simulations of the TE performance were in good agreement with the measurements.     

Resonant scattering of light from a glass/Ag/MgF2/air system with rough interfaces and supporting guided modes in attenuated total reflection

We report experimental results of the resonant scattering of light from a prism-glass/Ag/MgF2/air system with use of the attenuated total reflection technique for p and s polarized light. Two MgF2 film thicknesses were used. The system with the thinner dielectric layer supports two transverse magnetic (TM) and two transverse electric (TE) guided modes at a wavelength of 632.8 nm, and the system with the thicker dielectric layer supports three TM and three TE guided modes. In both cases we found dips in the specular reflection as a function of incident angle that is due to excitation of guided modes in the MgF2 film. The scattered light shows peaks at angles corresponding to the measured excitation of the guided modes. These peaks are due to single-order scattering and occur for any angle of the incident light. All features in the scattering response are enhanced in resonance conditions, and the efficiency of injecting light into the guide is reduced.     

Active optical interconnect based on liquid-crystal grating

We propose a transparent plate of a liquid-crystal grating to be used as a light guide for optical interconnection. To this end, we are empowering the connection itself with active functions, such as switching, wavelength division, power adjustment, etc. In experiments, we built a grating based on in-plane switching. It contains vertically-aligned nematic liquid-crystal molecules between a glass plate with a high refractive index (light guide) and another glass plate with a pair of interdigitated electrodes. Entering a TM wave from an edge of the light guide, we have demonstrated that the activation of diffraction and intensity adjustment for the guided light are both possible. Because a TE wave is barely diffracted, the device also exhibits polarization division capability.