The Ultra-Large-Bandwidth Cascade Full-Stokes-Imaging Metasurface Based on the Dual-Major-Axis Circular Dichroism Grating

Abstract

A dual-major-axis grating composed of two metal–insulator–metal (MIM) waveguides with different dielectric layer thicknesses is numerically proposed to achieve the function of the quarter-wave plate with an extremely large bandwidth (1.0–2.2 μm), whose optical properties can be controlled by the Fabry–Pérot (FP) resonance. For the TE incident mode wave, MIM waveguides with large (small) dielectric layer thicknesses control the guided-mode resonant channels of long (short) waves, respectively, in this miniaturized optical element. Meanwhile, for the TM incident mode wave, the propagation wave vector of this structure is controlled by the hybrid mode of two gap-SPPs (gap-surface plasmon polaritons) with different gap thicknesses. We combine this structure with a thick silver grating to propose a circularly polarizing dichroism device, whose effective bandwidth can reach an astonishing 1.65 μm with a circular polarization extinction ratio greater than 10 dB. The full Stokes pixel based on the six-image element technique can almost accurately measure arbitrary polarization states at 1.2–2.8 μm (including elliptically polarized light), which is the largest bandwidth (1600 nm) of the full Stokes large-image element to date in the near-infrared band. In addition, the average errors of the degree of linear polarizations (Dolp) and degree of circular polarizations (Docp) are less than −25 dB and −10 dB, respectively.