title: Reduced wavelength-dependent quarter-wave plate fabricated by a multilayered subwavelength structure.
abstract: We developed a novel fabrication method of a reduced wavelength-dependent quarter-wave plate (QWP) based on form birefringence of a multilayered subwavelength structure. The multilayered structure was constructed by depositing a high-refractive-index thin film on a subwavelength-structured substrate with a low refractive index. The surface structure of the substrate was shallow enough to be formed by a mass replication technology. A high-refractive-index subwavelength grating was formed on ridges of the substrate by sputtering Zn2SnO4 (refractive index of 2.03 at a wavelength of 633 nm). Moreover, since the grooves of the high-refractive-index grating were very deep and narrow, the dispersion of form birefringence suppressed the dependency of phase retardance on the wavelength of light in a limited spectral region. The phase retardance of the fabricated QWP was 89 degrees at a 633 nm wavelength and 79 degrees at a 785 nm wavelength.
authors.affiliation: Osaka Science and Technology Center, Izumi, Japan. wanji_yu@fujifilm.co.jp
authors.forename: Wanji
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mizutani
authors.forename: Hisao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kikuta
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Konishi