Plasmonic ultra-broadband polarizers based on Ag nano wire-slit arrays

TL;DR

This paper introduces tunable ultra-broadband plasmonic polarizers using multi-scaled silver nano wire-slit arrays, achieving high absorption and broadband polarization control in the visible spectrum.

Contribution

It presents a novel design of Ag nano wire-slit arrays with tunable optical properties and demonstrates their fabrication and potential applications in optics and photovoltaics.

Findings

Achieved ~80% average absorption in the broadband array.

Demonstrated tunability from reflective to absorptive states.

Experimental results agree with simulations.

Abstract

We propose ultra-broadband reflective and absorptive polarizers in the visible range using multi-scaled Ag nano wire-slit arrays. The nano arrays can be tuned from reflective to absorptive by incorporating Ag wires/strips with different lengths/widths. The ultra-broadband nature of the absorptive array, with averaged absorption as high as ~80%, is due to the collective excitations of plasmonic resonances in the Ag wires/strips with different length scales. The Ag nano wire-slit arrays are realized experimentally by using a simple two-times shadowing vapor deposition method. They exhibit broadband transmission difference, in good agreement with simulations. The multi-scaled Ag nano wire-slit array has potential applications as broadband linear polarizers and anti-reflective materials in both optics and photovoltaics.