摘要

Broadband optical circular polarizers functioning in the visible region were developed based on structural design and numerical simulation using the finite-difference time-domain method. By properly selecting the parameters of helix nanowire metamaterials including metal materials, diameters of wires, numbers of helix-period, spacing of grids, lengths of helix-period, and diameters of helixes, we proposed a broadband optical circular polarizer using aluminium helix nanowire metamaterials on a silica substrate. The proposed polarizer can reach an extinction ratio above 39 : 1 and a transmission efficiency above 64% in the range from 410 to 790 nm.