Mid-infrared full-Stokes polarization detection based on dielectric metasurfaces

Abstract Polarization characterizes the orientational property of an electromagnetic wave. It plays an important role in scientific applications ranging from communications to 3d object reconstruction. However, complicated alignment and high cost hinder the traditional polarimeters from more commercial uses. Due to the unique ability in electromagnetic field manipulation and the mature fabrication technology, metasurfaces have attracted growing attention in micro-nano optics. In this paper, we propose a novel design for mid-infrared polarization detection based on dielectric metasurfaces. The proposed metasurface has a dimension of 177. 5 μ m × 57 . 5 μ m × 5 μ m and consists of three bifocal metalenses. In particular, when the incident light passes through the metasurface, six individual points will be focused on the photodetector. Based on the intensities of the six points, the Stokes parameters can be reconstructed via an instrument matrix, and the state of polarization (SOP) is obtained. Simulation results show that, the root mean square error of each element of reconstructed Stokes parameters is less than 0.005 at the wavelength of 5 μ m . Therefore, the proposed polarimeter guarantees a high performance in real-time SOP measurements.