We report on a one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPhC) represented by a multilayer structure used for a surface plasmon-like sensing based on Bloch surface waves and radiation modes employing a structure comprising a glass substrate and four bilayers of TiO 2 /SiO 2 with a termination layer of TiO 2. We model the reflectance responses in the Kretschmann configuration with a coupling prism made of BK7 glass and express the reflectances for both (s and p) polarizations in the spectral domain for various angles of incidence to show that a sharp dip associated with the Bloch surface wave (BSW) excitation is obtained in p polarization when an external medium (analyte) is air. For s-polarized wave BSW is not excited and a shallow dip associated with the guided mode excitation is obtained for a liquid analyte (water). For decreasing angle of incidence, the dip depth is substantially increased, and resonance thus obtained is comparable in magnitude with resonance commonly exhibited by SPR-based sensors. In addition, we revealed that the resonances in s-polarization are obtained for other analytes. The surface plasmon-like sensing concept was verified experimentally in the Kretschmann configuration for the guided mode transformed into the radiation mode with a negative and constant sensitivity of −169 nm/RIU, and a detection limit of 5.9 ×10 −5 RIU.

Mueller matrix ellipsometry has been used to precisely characterize quartz waveplates for demanding applications in the semiconductor industry and high precision polarimetry. We have found this experimental technique to be beneficial to use because it enables us to obtain absolute and precise measurement of retardation in a wide spectral range, waveplate orientation, and compound waveplate adjustment. In this paper, the necessity of including the optical activity in the Mueller matrix model and data treatment is demonstrated. Particularly, the optical activity of the quartz influences the adjustment of misalignment between the perpendicularly oriented waveplates of the compound biplate. We demonstrate that omitting the optical activity from the model leads to inaccurate values of the misalignment. In addition, the depolarization effects caused by a finite monochromator bandwidth is included in the model. Incorporation of the optical activity to the Mueller matrix model has required a development of rigorous theory based on appropriate constitutive equations. The generalized Yeh’s matrix algebra to bianisotropic media has been used for the calculation of the eigenmodes propagation in chiral materials with reduced symmetry. Based on the applied method, the authors have proposed approximated analytical form of the Mueller matrix representing optically active waveplate and biplate and provided discussion on the analytical and numerical limits of the method.

We utilize a commercial broadband Mueller ellipsometer to monitor the kinetics of glucose mutarotation through the dispersion of its optical activity.

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