On-Chip Optimal Stokes Nanopolarimetry Based on Spin-Orbit Interaction of Light.

Full measurement of the polarization of light at the nanoscale is expected to be crucial in many scientific and technological disciplines. Ideally, such measurements will require miniaturized Stokes polarimeters able to determine polarization nondestructively, locally, and in real time. For maximum robustness in measurement, the polarimeters should also operate optimally.

Experimental measurement of plasmonic nanostructures embedded in silicon waveguide gaps.

In this work, we report numerical simulations and experiments of the optical response of a gold nanostrip embedded in a silicon strip waveguide gap at telecom wavelengths. We show that the spectral features observed in transmission and reflection when the metallic nanostructure is inserted in the gap are extremely different than those observed in free-space excitation. First, we find that interference between the guided field and the electric dipolar resonance of the metallic nanostructure results in high-contrast (> 10) spectral features showing an asymmetric Fano spectral profile.