Achieving arbitrary polarization control using complex birefringent meta-materials

摘要

We demonstrate that the key to realizing arbitrary control over pairs ofpolarization states of light, i.e. transforming an arbitrarily polarized pairof input states to an arbitrarily polarized pair of output states, is theability to generate pairs of states with orthogonal polarizations fromnon-orthogonal pairs of initial states. We then develop a new class ofnon-Hermitian meta-materials, termed complex birefringent meta-materials, whichare able to do exactly this. Such materials could facilitate the detection ofsmall polarization changes in scattering experiments, as well as enable newpolarization multiplexing schemes in communications networks.