High Performance Bianisotropic Metasurfaces: Asymmetric Transmission of Light

It is experimentally shown that bianisotropic metasurfaces allow for extreme polarization control of light with high performance. A metasurface providing asymmetric transmission (i.e., polarization conversion) of circularly polarized light is reported at a wavelength of $1.5\text{ }\text{ }\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$. The experimental transmittance and extinction ratio are 50% and $20:1$, which represents an order of magnitude improvement over previous optical structures exhibiting asymmetric transmission. The metasurface consists of patterned gold sheets that are spaced at a subwavelength distance from each other. The same design and fabrication processes can be used in the future to completely control the phase, amplitude, and polarization of light.