Fabrication technique for wire grid polarizer

Abstract

A proposed fabrication technique for a polarization-absorbing wire grid polarizer avoids the need to etch through the multilayer stack of materials to form the grid structure. Initial reflective metal and dielectric buffer layers are patterned and etched in a conventional manner to create the desired grid topology. A small-angle coating process is then used to complete the fabrication process by first coating the top surface of the patterned dielectric with a polarization-absorbing metal. A second coating process is used to cover the created metal coating with a dielectric cladding material. Maintaining a small angle of incidence between the coating source and the wire grid structure ensures that top portions of the grid are suitably covered to create the desired multilayer wire configuration.