Guo Qing, Chu Jinkui, Guan Chuanlong, Zhang Chuxiao, Zhang Ran
State Key Laboratory of High-Performance Precision Manufacturing, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
Key Laboratory for Micro/Nano Technology and System of Liaoning Province, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
Micromachines (Basel). 2025 Jan 10;16(1):74. doi: 10.3390/mi16010074.
The polarization state of light is critical for biological imaging, acousto-optics, bio-navigation, and many other optical applications. Phase shifters are extensively researched for their applications in optics. The size of optical elements with phase delay that are made from natural birefringent materials is limited; however, fabricating waveplates from dielectric metamaterials is very complex and expensive. Here, we present an ultrathin (14 nm) metallic phase shifter developed using nanoimprinting technology and the oxygen plasma ashing technique for visible and near-infrared wavelengths. The fabrication process can produce desirable metallic phase shifters with high efficiency, large area, and low cost. We demonstrate through a numerical simulation and experiment that the metallic phase shifter exhibits phase delay performance. Our results highlight the simplicity of the fabrication process for a metallic phase shifter with phase delay performance and offer important opportunities for creating high-efficiency, ultrathin polarizing elements, which can be used in miniaturized devices, such as integrated circuits.
光的偏振态对于生物成像、声光技术、生物导航以及许多其他光学应用至关重要。相位调制器因其在光学领域的应用而受到广泛研究。由天然双折射材料制成的具有相位延迟的光学元件尺寸有限；然而，用介电超材料制造波片非常复杂且昂贵。在此，我们展示了一种使用纳米压印技术和氧等离子体灰化技术开发的用于可见光和近红外波长的超薄（14纳米）金属相位调制器。该制造工艺能够高效、大面积且低成本地生产出理想的金属相位调制器。我们通过数值模拟和实验证明，该金属相位调制器具有相位延迟性能。我们的结果突出了具有相位延迟性能的金属相位调制器制造工艺的简便性，并为制造可用于集成电路等小型化设备的高效、超薄偏振元件提供了重要机遇。
