All-dielectric metasurface polarization scrambler for imaging applications

Abstract: Polarization scramblers are essential for many imaging applications involving polarization sensitive instruments and partially polarized fluxes. In such cases, the light must be depolarized to allow properly calibrated measurements. Several types of depolarizers are already in use, but none is optimal due to the inevitable image degradation associated with the scrambling process. Here, we present a device based on an all-dielectric metasurface using anisotropic scatterers capable of generating multiple polarization states by varying their orientation angle. Our new scrambling solution allows a massive reduction in the integrated degree of polarization and thus the spatial depolarization of any incident linear polarization, while allowing easier integration into the instrument design and reducing the impact on its image quality.