Biologically inspired achromatic waveplates for visible light

Abstract

Waveplates are planar devices used in optics and optoelectronics to change the polarization state of light. Made of anisotropic dielectric materials such as crystals and thin films, waveplates are not known to exhibit achromatic performance over the visible regime. Inspired by the microvillar structure of R8 cells functioning as polarization converters in the eyes of stomatopod crustaceans, we conceived, designed, fabricated and tested periodically multilayered structures comprising two different types of arrays of nanorods. Morphologically analogous to the ocular cells, here we show that the periodically multilayered structures can function as achromatic waveplates over the visible regime. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.