Enhancement in the extinction ratio of a wire grid polarizer in the mid-wavelength infrared range via hot electron diffused cold-annealing

Theoretical and experimental investigations were performed on the fabrication and polarization property enhancement of a single-layer Au grating serving as a wire grid polarizer (WGP) in the mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) range. Femtosecond laser (FSL) annealing was performed to overcome the performance limitations of the WGP fabricated by nanotransfer printing (NTP), and the results were compared with those of the conventional thermal annealing methods using scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Consequently, the extinction ratio of the WGP annealed with FSL reached up to 1378 (∼31 dB) in the 3–5 μm wavelength range, which corresponds to a 2.18-fold improvement over the non-annealed WGP. This result suggests that it is possible to manufacture MWIR WGPs at a low cost and over large areas through a simple NTP and FSL annealing process, ultimately yielding WGPs with improved performances.