Polarization multiplexing of diffractive elements with metal-stripe grating pixels

Diffractive elements with polarization multiplexing for the visible spectra l region are demonstrated. The polarization-multiplexing property of the el ement is based on the polarization-dependent transmission characteristics o f metal-stripe subwavelength period gratings. The proper dimensions of thes e gratings are estimated by rigorous calculations. The principle of polariz ation multiplexing by use of metal-stripe subwavelength period gratings is described for a diffractive element that has a binary amplitude transmissio n per polarization channel and is demonstrated by experimental results. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America.