Polarization-sensitive beam steering from quantum emitters coupled with birefringent metamaterials

Appl Opt. 2018 Dec 10;57(35):10271-10275. doi: 10.1364/AO.57.010271.

Abstract

One-dimensional metal/dielectric subwavelength periodic patterns have dielectric or metallic material dispersions depending on the polarization of incident light. This feature enables the development of artificial, ultrathin, birefringent films. In this study, we report polarization-sensitive beam steering from quantum emitters coupled with one-dimensional metal/dielectric metamaterial films. Electromagnetic simulations show that an Al/ITO metamaterial film functioning as a quarter-wave plate leads to vertically directed radiation for one polarization and a saddle-shaped, diverging radiation pattern for the orthogonal polarization. The strategy studied herein is extended to achieve polarized, vertically directed emission from organic light-emitting diodes. A tailored Al/ITO metamaterial mirror yields an approximately 30-fold improvement in polarization ratio, in conjunction with polarization-dependent Purcell factor enhancement.