Compact, high-extinction waveguide polarizers that use localized surface plasmons

We report a new type of waveguide polarizer that utilizes surface plasmon modes localized in nanometer-size silver particles to polarize light. Polarization is due to selective excitation of a lossy surface plasmon mode in the silver. Planar waveguides have been fabricated by a K(+)-Na(+) ion-exchange process in a glass composite containing elongated silver particles. Both TE- and TM-pass polarizers have been fabricated with extinction ratios of >50 dB/100 microm at 836 nm. Propagation losses for the pass axis were <0.2 dB/100 microm. The polarizing properties are modeled by an effective medium theory.