Selectively absorptive wire-grid polarizer
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1. A selectively absorptive wire-grid polarizer device for polarizing incident light and selectively absorbing one polarization, the device comprising:
- a) a substrate;
b) at least two thin film layers, disposed over the substrate, the film layers having different refractive indices with respect to one another and each having a thickness less than 170 nm;
c) the refractive index of at least one of the two film layers being greater than a refractive index of the substrate; and
d) a wire-grid layer, disposed over the substrate, the wire-grid layer including an array of elongated metal elements having lengths longer than a wavelength of the incident light and a period less than half the wavelength of the incident light; and
e) at least one of the film layers including a material which is optically absorptive of the incident light defining an absorptive layer such that one polarization is substantially absorbed.
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Abstract
A selectively absorptive, mulitlayer wire-grid polarizer for polarizing incident light includes a stack of thin film layers disposed over a substrate, including a wire-grid array of elongated metal elements having a period less than half the wavelength of the light. One of the layers can include a thin film layer with a refractive index greater than a refractive index of the substrate. One of the thin film layers can include a dielectric array of non-metal elements. One of the layers includes a material that is optically absorptive to the incident light.
538 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A selectively absorptive wire-grid polarizer device for polarizing incident light and selectively absorbing one polarization, the device comprising:
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a) a substrate; b) at least two thin film layers, disposed over the substrate, the film layers having different refractive indices with respect to one another and each having a thickness less than 170 nm; c) the refractive index of at least one of the two film layers being greater than a refractive index of the substrate; and d) a wire-grid layer, disposed over the substrate, the wire-grid layer including an array of elongated metal elements having lengths longer than a wavelength of the incident light and a period less than half the wavelength of the incident light; and e) at least one of the film layers including a material which is optically absorptive of the incident light defining an absorptive layer such that one polarization is substantially absorbed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A selectively absorptive wire-grid polarizer device for polarizing incident light and selectively absorbing one polarization, the device comprising:
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a) a substrate having a refractive index; b) a polarizing wire-grid layer disposed over the substrate having an array of parallel metal wires with a period less than half the wavelength of the incident light; c) a dielectric layer disposed over the substrate including a dielectric material; and d) an absorptive thin film layer disposed over the substrate including a material which is optically absorptive of the incident light such that one polarization is substantially absorbed and having a refractive index different than a refractive index of the dielectric layer and a thickness less than 170 nm. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A selectively absorptive wire-grid polarizer device for polarizing incident light and selectively absorbing one polarization, the device comprising:
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a) a substrate having a refractive index; b) at least three different thin film layers each having a thickness less than 170 nm and disposed over the substrate, including; i) a polarizing layer including a conductive material; ii) an absorptive layer having a refractive index greater than a refractive index of the substrate and including a material that is optically absorptive to the incident light; and iii) a dielectric layer having a refractive index different than the refractive index of the absorptive layer; and c) the at least three layers being discontinuous to form an array of parallel ribs having a period less than a wavelength of the incident light.
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30. A selectively absorptive wire-grid polarizer device for polarizing incident light and selectively absorbing one polarization, the device comprising:
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a) a substrate; b) a wire-grid layer, disposed over the substrate, the wire-grid layer including an array of elongated metal elements having lengths longer than a wavelength of the incident light and a period less than half the wavelength of the incident light; and c) at least two thin film layers, disposed over the wire-grid layer, the film layers having different refractive indices with respect to one another and each having a thickness less than 170 nm, wherein the refractive index of at least one of the two film layers is greater than a refractive index of the substrate and at least one of the film layers includes a material which is optically absorptive of the incident light defining an absorptive layer such that one polarization is substantially absorbed. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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Specification