Chirality of plasmonic metasurfaces with rectangular holes

TL;DR

This paper systematically investigates chiral plasmonic metasurfaces with rectangular holes, revealing how size, orientation, and structural parameters influence chirality and circular dichroism, with potential applications in sensing and polarization control.

Contribution

It introduces a design approach for chiral metasurfaces based on rectangular holes, demonstrating tunable chirality and enhanced circular dichroism through structural adjustments.

Findings

Maximum circular dichroism reaches 0.76

Chirality is highly sensitive to resonance unit orientation

Structural period is smaller than the wavelength for chirality

Abstract

Chiral response is of tremendous importance to many fields, such as analytical chemistry, polarization manipulation and biological sensing. Here, a chiral metasurface based on rectangular holes is systematically investigated. The results show that the chirality is closely related to the size and the orientation of resonance unit. It is found that the period of the structure is always smaller than the wavelength at which chirality appears, which will provide a good basis for the design of chiral structures. More importantly, the CD is highly sensitive to the orientation of resonance unit. By adjusting the rotation angle, it is not only possible to invert the CD, but also to change the symmetry of the structure to realize the regulation of chirality. The chirality can be significantly enhanced in the proposed structure, and the maximum of circular dichroism (CD) can reach 0.76. To better understand the physical mechanism, the distributions of electric field for LCP and RCP waves are also discussed as well. This work will not only deepen the understanding of chiral metasurfaces, but also provide guidance for the design of similar chiral structures.