Plasmonic Metasurface-Enabled Differential Photodetectors for Broadband Optical Polarization Characterization

Abstract

The polarization state of an optical field is central to applications in optical communications, imaging, and data storage as well as furthering our understanding of biological and physical systems. Here we demonstrate two silicon photodetectors integrated with aluminum nanoantennas capable of distinguishing orthogonal states of either linearly or circularly polarized light with no additional filters. The localized plasmon resonances of the antennas lead to selective screening of the underlying silicon from light with a particular polarization state. The planar device, fully compatible with conventional CMOS fabrication methods, incorporates antennas sensitive to orthogonal states of polariz..