Strict mathematical model of mechanical stress birefringence for optical plates.

The mechanical stress birefringence (SBR) has received attention due to its effect on polarization in immersion lithography. In this paper, we present a strict mathematical model to obtain the correct SBR and slow-axis distributions of optical plates. First, the linear conditions of the model are solved to ensure the reasonable assembly of optical plates.

Polarization-insensitive achromatic metalens based on computational wavefront coding.

Broadband achromatic metalens imaging is of great interest in various applications, such as integrated imaging and augmented/virtual reality display. Current methods of achromatic metalenses mainly rely on the compensation of a linear phase dispersion implemented with complex nanostructures. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a polarization-insensitive achromatic metalens (PIA-ML) based on computational wavefront coding.

Mechanical stress birefringence of optical plates.

Modeling the mechanical stress birefringence and slow-axis distributions of optical plates is critical for optical lithography systems. In this paper, the distributions of mechanical stress birefringence and the slow axes of optical plates were modeled by the finite element (FE) model, stress optic relations, and the ray-traced Jones matrices method. To validate this model, the load incremental approach was utilized to reduce the disturbance of residual birefringence in mechanical stress birefringence measurement.

All-metal flexible large-area multiband waveplate.

We propose and demonstrate an all-metal flexible reflective multiband waveplate based on nano-grating structure using high efficient electroplating growing process, which exhibits quarter waveplate at two wavelengths (λ = 465nm and λ = 921nm) and half waveplate at another wavelength (λ = 656nm). Using Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) modeling, the phase shift and reflection efficiency are simulated and designed for a variety of geometrical parameters. A fast and cost-effective technique based on conventional interference lithography and nickel electroplating process is demonstrated to fabricate the all-metal, large-area and flexible waveplate.

All-dielectric metasurface circular dichroism waveplate.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a high efficient circularly polarizing dichroism waveplate (CPDW) using a Si-based all-dielectric 2Dchiral metasurface. We demonstrate that the CPDW exhibits a unique dichroism in that it functions as a transmissive quarter waveplate for one of either left-or right-handed circularly polarized incident lightand a reflective mirror for the opposite polarization. The circular polarization dichroism (CPD = I - I) in transmission at wavelength ~1.

Broadband circularly polarizing dichroism with high efficient plasmonic helical surface.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a broadband and high efficient circularly polarizing dichroism using a simple single-cycle and single-helical plasmonic surface array arranged in square lattice. Two types of helical surface structures (partially or completely covered with a gold film) are investigated. It is shown that the circular polarization dichroism in the mid-IR range (3µm - 5µm) can reach 80% (when the surface is partially covered with gold) or 65% (when the surface is completely covered with gold) with a single-cycle and single-helical surface.

Ultra-broadband achromatic imaging with diffractive photon sieves.

Diffractive optical elements suffer from large chromatic aberration due to the strong wavelength-dependent nature in diffraction phenomena, and therefore, diffractive elements can work only at a single designed wavelength, which significantly limits the applications of diffractive elements in imaging. Here, we report on a demonstration of a wavefront coded broadband achromatic imaging with diffractive photon sieves. The broadband diffraction imaging is implemented with a wavefront coded pinhole pattern that generates equal focusing power for a wide range of operating wavelength in a single thin-film element without complicated auxiliary optical system.

Broadband photon sieves imaging with wavefront coding.

A novel method for broadband imaging of using a diffractive photon sieves is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Unlike conventional photon sieves imaging in which clear imaging is only valid at a single designed wavelength due to the strong wavelength-dependent nature of diffractive elements, broadband photon sieves imaging is implemented with wavefront coding of a simple cubic phase mask without complicated optical system to compensate large chromatic aberration. Experimental validation was performed using an UV-lithography fabricated photon sieves of a focal length of 500mm and a diameter of 50mm at designed wavelength 632.