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Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Measurement of Chladni Mode Shapes with an Optical Lever Method
Published on: June 5, 2020
Guided-mode resonant wave plates
Robert Magnusson1, Mehrdad Shokooh-Saremi, Eric G Johnson
1Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019, USA. magnusson@uta.edu
Abstract:
We introduce half-wave and quarter-wave retarders based on the dispersion properties of guided-mode resonance elements. We design the wave plates using numerical electromagnetic models joined with the particle swarm optimization method. The wave plates operate in reflection. We provide computed results for reflectance and phase in the telecommunication spectral region near 1.55 microm wavelength. A surface-relief grating etched in glass and overcoated with silicon yields a half-wave plate with nearly equal amplitudes of the TE and TM polarization components and pi phase difference across a bandwidth exceeding 50 nm. Wider operational bandwidths are obtainable with more complex designs involving glass substrates and mixed silicon/hafnium dioxide resonant gratings. The results indicate a potential new approach to fashion optical retarders.
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