Finite-aperture wire grid polarizers

The transmission characteristics of wire grid polarizers fabricated in finite apertures are investigated by using a three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain formulation. Specifically, the optical transmissivity and extinction ratio are characterized far a wide variety of geometrical parameters including aperture size in both dimensions, conducting wire fill factor, and polarizer thickness. A dispersive material model is used to investigate the performance of polarizers fabricated by using realistic metals at infrared wavelengths. The results indicate that the aperture dimension significantly impacts the polarizer transmission behavior and that the extinction of the unwanted polarization is often limited by depolarizing scattering that is due to the finite aperture size. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America [S0740-3232(00)01912-8] OCIS codes: 050.0050, 050.1970, 230.0230, 230.3990.