High-performance nanowire-grid polarizers

We developed a new type of wire-grid polarizer that has achieved excellent optical performance and reliability. The nanowire-grid polarizer is based on a fully optimized innovative design structure that consists of not only the core nanowire grid but also the surrounding multilayer thin-film structures. The surrounding structures are designed for antireflectivity to provide the best possible efficiency as well as for device reliability to provide the best possible handling robustness and environmental durability. The core nanowire grid utilizes nanosized high-aspect-ratio dielectric walls as a support for forming a high-aspect-ratio metal nanowire grid that significantly reduces energy loss as a result of metal absorption for the transmitted beam while providing a high extinction ratio of the blocked beam. The developed high-quality nanowire-grid polarizer has potential for use in many integrated optical applications. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.