Highly-resonant two-polarization transmission guided-mode resonance filter

Abstract

We theoretically demonstrate a mid-infrared polarization-independent guided-mode-resonance transmission filter. We designed a structure based on a deeply-etched 2D grating above a thin slab of the same material respectively supporting transverse magnetic and transverse electric fundamental modes with identical effective index, which propagate along orthogonal directions. This device relates to multi-resonant guided-mode-resonance filters, and more particularly to the concept of zero-contrast gratings (ZCG), which can operate either as wideband reflectors [R. Magnusson, Optics Letters 39, 4337 (2014)] or bandpass filters [M. Niraula, J. W. Yoon, and R. Magnusson, Optics Letters 40, 5062 (2015)]. However, contrary to the latter, this new generation of filters is not bound by stringent material requirements inherent to conventional ZCGs. In particular, ZCGs are demonstrated with high to low refractive index ratio below 2, using germanium as high-index material over a low-index zinc sulfide substrate. These filters exhibit a transmission peak with a full-width at half-maximum of about 30 pm, and a maximum transmission close to 100 % lying in a 46-nm-wide rejection window.