High Extinction Ratio Mid-Infrared Polarizer Based on Sulfuric Polymer

Transparent polymers with low-loss and high refractive index are critical components of integrated optical devices including filters, lenses, and polarizers. Current conventional mid infrared (MIR) polarizers are fabricated from inorganic semiconductor materials and are intrinsically expensive, brittle, and difficult to manufacture. This represents a significant challenge in developing a surface mountable low-cost component. Herein, an alternative sulfur polymer-based material will be used to create MIR polarizers reducing cost and simplifying fabrication. Sulfur polymer ellipsometry data indicates low loss material with a refractive index of 1.64 across the MIR spectrum. Transmission data of thin film samples also support the fact that sulfur polymer is transparent in the MIR with an even transmission through the range. Sulfur polymer was created by the mixing of molten sulfur with 1-3, diisopropenylbenzene (DIB) and allowing the chains of sulfur rings to break open and cross link with the DIB. To form the polarizer, sulfur polymer solution was spin-coated onto a silicon (Si) wafer and imprinted with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) linear grid stamp. After imprinting, a thin layer of gold was deposited onto the surface of the grating, completing the bilayer structure polarizer. To measure the performance of the polarizer, transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) transmission data was collected with an Fourier-transform infrared spectroscope (FTIR). The linear polarizer should allow transmission of the TM light while blocking all TE light. The extinction ratio (dimensionless) is used to compare the two polarization states, defined as the TM transmission divided by the TE transmission. With high refractive index and transmission in MIR sulfur polymer is ideal for fabrication of optical components and can be applied as a substitute for conventional brittle inorganic materials. Sulfur polymer based polarizers showed experimental FTIR TM transmission over 95 percent. Combined with low FTIR TE transmission the physical samples displayed extinction ratios of over 600 in MIR. High polarization performance is attributed to the surface plasmon effect along the grating surface as well as the Fabry–Pérot cavity conditions between the multiple films. These assumptions are reinforced by the correlation between the simulation data and experimental results