Nanostructure-modulated planar high spectral resolution spectro-polarimeter

Abstract

We present a planar spectro-polarimeter based on Fabry-Perot cavities with embedded polarization-sensitive high-index nanostructures. A 7 μm-thick spectro-polarimetric system for 3 spectral bands and 2 linear polarization states is experimentally demonstrated. Furthermore, an optimal design is theoretically proposed, estimating that a system with a bandwidth of 127 nm and a spectral resolution of 1 nm is able to reconstruct the first three Stokes parameters with a signal-to-noise ratio of -13.14 dB with respect to the the shot noise limited SNR. The pixelated spectro-polarimetric system can be directly integrated on a sensor, thus enabling applicability in a variety of miniaturized optical devices, including but not limited to satellites for Earth observation.