Metasurfaces composed of in‐plane subwavelength nanostructures have unprecedented capability in manipulating the amplitude, phase, and polarization states of light. Here, a unique type of direction‐controlled bifunctional metasurface polarizer is proposed and experimentally demonstrated based on plasmonic stepped slit‐groove dimers. In the forward direction, a chiral linear polarizer is enabled which only allows the transmission of a certain incident handedness and converts it into the specified linear polarization. In the backward direction, the metasurface functions as an anisotropic circular polarizer to selectively convert a certain linear polarization component into the desired circularly polarized transmission. The observed direction‐controlled polarization selection and conversion are explained by the spin‐dependent mode coupling process inside the bilayer structure. Anisotropic chiral imaging based on the proposed metasurface polarizer is further demonstrated. The results provide new degrees of freedom to realize future multifunctional photonic integrated devices for structured light conversion, vector beam generation, optical imaging and sensing, and optical communication.
Plasmonic nanosystems and metamaterials have recently attracted considerable attention because of their ability to enhance the light–matter interactions. One of such optical phenomena is the chiral‐ or handedness‐dependent response which typically requires 3D samples. Planar structures that can exhibit chiral response are highly desirable because of their facile fabrication, however fundamental challenges arising from the 2D nature of these systems prevent the generation of strong chiro‐optical effects. In this work, giant enhancement of the handedness‐dependent optical response in planar metallic nanostructures is shown by exploring the hybridization of plasmonic–photonic modes in a chiral metasurface. The resulting planar hybrid metasurface exhibits over an order of magnitude difference in nonlinear optical response when illuminated with excitation light of opposite circular polarizations. The unique properties of the hybridized plasmonic–photonic modes are shown to be responsible for the giant chiral nonlinear response. This platform allows to study the fundamental framework of chiral optical effects that arise from the combination of planar chirality and collective interaction of discrete nanosystems.
more » « less- Award ID(s):
- 1741691
- PAR ID:
- 10459492
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Advanced Optical Materials
- Volume:
- 7
- Issue:
- 19
- ISSN:
- 2195-1071
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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