Polarizing metal stripe gratings for a micro-optical polarimeter

Tina Clausnitzer; Hans-Joerg Fuchs; Ernst-Bernhard Kley; Andreas Tuennermann; Uwe D. Zeitner

doi:10.1117/12.507283

3 November 2003 Polarizing metal stripe gratings for a micro-optical polarimeter

Tina Clausnitzer, Hans-Joerg Fuchs, Ernst-Bernhard Kley, Andreas Tuennermann, Uwe D. Zeitner

Proceedings Volume 5183, Lithographic and Micromachining Techniques for Optical Component Fabrication II; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.507283
Event: Optical Science and Technology, SPIE's 48th Annual Meeting, 2003, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Several applications in science and industry require a precise measurement of the polarization of the incident light, e.g. the online characterization of textile-fiber birefringency in spinning machines. A promising concept to realize these polarimeters is based on structured polarizers that consist of three polarizing metal stripe gratings, whose spatial orientations are tilted against each other with an angle of 60deg. With such an approach the state of polarization can be determined with a very small device without any moving parts. Here we report on the fabrication of a micro optical polarimeter based on three polarizing metal stripe gratings with a grating period of 300nm and a size of 0.3 mm x 0.3 mm each. To achieve the necessary high aspect ratio we combined electron-beam direct writing with dry etching and metal coating under oblique incidence. The measured polarization contrast of the fabricated micropolarizers is more than 300:1 over a large spectral range (wavelength between 450nm and 1000nm), moreover they have a contrast of even more than 1000:1 if light with a wavelength between 500nm and 600nm is used. Thus, they are well suited for microsensors to detect birefringency.

Citation Download Citation

Tina Clausnitzer, Hans-Joerg Fuchs, Ernst-Bernhard Kley, Andreas Tuennermann, and Uwe D. Zeitner "Polarizing metal stripe gratings for a micro-optical polarimeter", Proc. SPIE 5183, Lithographic and Micromachining Techniques for Optical Component Fabrication II, (3 November 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.507283

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