One-way transmission of linearly polarized light in plasmonic subwavelength metallic grating cascaded with dielectric grating.

We show that optical transmission of linearly polarized light through a plasmonic subwavelength metallic grating cascaded with a dielectric grating at a 45° angle to each other is asymmetric in opposite directions. A key characteristic of this asymmetric transmission is that the polarization of the transmitted light is changed. Simulation results reveal that transmission of 0.92 in one direction and 10(-5) in the opposite direction can be obtained at normal incidence at a wavelength of 1550 nm. Because of their high optical performance and loose fabrication requirements, the structures may provide practical applications in the control of light transmission.