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. 2017 Nov 14;8(12):5594-5603.
doi: 10.1364/BOE.8.005594. eCollection 2017 Dec 1.

Detection of optical activity with diode-integrated hyperbolic metasurfaces

Joseph S T Smalley  1   2 , Felipe Vallini  1 , Yeshaiahu Fainman  1
Affiliations

Detection of optical activity with diode-integrated hyperbolic metasurfaces

Joseph S T Smalley et al. Biomed Opt Express. .

Abstract

We present an analytical technique for designing integrated polarized light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and polarization-sensitive photodiodes (PD) based on hyperbolic metasurfaces (HMS) for the detection of optical activity. Leveraging effective medium theory and the scattering matrix method, we first derive the conditions for optimizing the transmission efficiency of an LED-integrated HMS and the absorption efficiency of a PD-integrated HMS. We then propose using a differential detection technique with orthogonally oriented PD-integrated HMS to measure optical activity in an extremely compact volume. Finally, we perform an estimation of system performance and find that, relative to state-of-the-art polarimeters, a reduction of complexity can be achieved without sacrificing resolution. The results hold merit for reducing the size and cost of polarimeters and associated polarimetric sensing systems, which play vital roles in the pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences.

Keywords: (130.3120) Integrated optics devices; (130.5440) Polarization-selective devices; (160.1585) Chiral media; (160.3918) Metamaterials; (260.2065) Effective medium theory; (280.1415) Biological sensing and sensors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest related to this article.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic of integrated polarized LED, microfluidic channel and orthogonally-oriented polarization-sensitive photodiodes for detection of optical activity. The optical axis of the upper HMS corresponds to the x unit vector. For the lower HMS, the optical axes are (left lower) x2-1/2 + y2-1/2 and (right lower) x2-1/2 - y2-1/2. The thickness of the upper and lower HMS, t1 and t2, respectively, are design parameters, along with the metal-to-air ratio in the HMS. The black regions between the HMS and solution in the cross-section indicate physical separation between the HMS and solution. Dimensions not to scale.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
(a) Parallel (TM) effective index as a function of Ag fraction in HMS and values of the optimal index calculated from Eq. (10) for reference. (b) Quarter wave index as a function of thickness. (c) Transmission, reflection, and absorption of TM and TE waves and (d) degree of linear transmission as functions of the HMS thickness for the AlGaInP/HMS/solution system. (e) Transmission, reflection, and absorption of TM and TE waves and (f) degree of linear transmission as functions of the HMS thickness for the solution/HMS/Si system.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Split-anode photodiode with orthogonally oriented HMS and op-amp circuit for differential detection. The output voltage, VO, of OΔ is proportional to the difference in photocurrents generated underneath the orthogonal HMS (c = contact, p = p-doped region, n = n-doped region, i = intrinsic region, O = op amp).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
(a) Cross-sectional schematic of polarimeter. (b) Definition of θrot and electric field vector after passing upper HMS and chiral solution. (c-d) Differential current, ΔIP = IP,1 - IP,2 as a function of θrot with |max(θrot)| = (b) 45° and (c) 0.001°.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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