Three-dimensional chiral photonic crystals by direct laser writing

Abstract

We review our recent work on three-dimensional chiral photonic crystals. High-quality polymeric three-dimensional spiral and layer-by-layer photonic crystals are fabricated via direct laser writing. Polarization stop bands for circularly polarized light are observed, leading up to a suppression of a factor 52 for one circular polarization with respect to the other. The transmittance for the passing polarization is as high as 95 % . These chiral elements are sandwiched between one-dimensional lamellae structures acting as quarterwave plates to form thin-film polarizers, which can be operated under perpendicular incidence.