Efficient and broadband polarization conversion with the coupled metasurfaces

Coupled metasurfaces may refer to a composite plasmonic structure, which consists of multilayered but usually different metasurfaces. A pair of orthogonal plasmonic polarizers, which represents one of such systems, can induce a transmission of light and 90-degree polarization rotation. We explored the effect systematically and found that such effect may be highly efficient and broadband in the near-infrared region. By combining the low-loss metal (silver), the longer operating wavelength, and a work style using propagating waveguide mode, conversion efficiency more than 80% has been suggested near the telecom wavelength. We also suggested that, by overlapping the internal surface-plasmon (2, 0) and (1, 1) modes, an efficient and wideband polarization rotation can be realized. The maximal efficiency is 83% around the wavelength 1340 nm, and the working bandwidth reaches 300 nm. Similar effect has also been revealed in the THz band. The results are useful for constructing compact and high-performance polarization rotators. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America