Steering polarization of infrared light through hybridization effect in a tri-rod structure

A tri-rod structure (TRS), which can be seen as a combination of the double-rod structures reported by V. M. Shalaev et al. [Opt. Lett. 30, 3356 (2005) 10.1364/OL.30.003356], is proposed to control the polarization state of an electromagnetic (EM) wave in the near-infrared range. When a plane EM wave propagates through the TRS system, two orthogonal hybrid magnetic eigenmodes are established as a result of the strong hybridization effect. Thus, linearly polarized infrared light is shown to change its polarization around the resonance range after passing through an array of TRSs. The wavelength dependence of the polarization state is also calculated, and various polarized waves can be obtained. A metamaterial made of a large number of TRSs could be utilized as a polarization controllable medium with possible applications in optical elements and devices. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America