Laminated polarizers exhibiting high performance over a wide range of wavelength

A laminated polarizer exhibiting high performance over a wide range of wavelengths has been fabricated for the first time. The polarizer consists of alternate layers of laminated silica film and metal-included semiconductor ultra-thin film as the transparent and absorptive layers, respectively. Extinction ratios of greater than 50 dB with insertion losses of less than 0.4 dB have been obtained over the wavelength range of 0.8-1.55 /spl mu/m. At the wavelength 0.98 /spl mu/m where previously no viable laminated polarizer had been available, the extinction ratio is as high as greater than 60 dB and the insertion loss less than 0.3 dB.