Fabricating a terahertz polarization rotator is child’s play

Dec. 15, 2011

Marburg, Germany--A terahertz polarization rotator that is so simple it can be fabricated by school children has been developed by scientists at the University of Marburg.

Gail Overton

Scientists from the University of Marburg cut paper strips with preschool children to fabricate a terahertz polarization rotator that uses the principle of form birefringence.

Marburg, Germany--A terahertz polarization rotator that is so simple it can be fabricated by school children has been developed by scientists at the University of Marburg (Philipps-Universität Marburg). Reported in a recent issue of Optics Express (B. Scherger et al. Optics Express 19, 24884 (2011)) by professor Martin Koch's group, the wave plate consists of paper and is based on the principle of form birefringence.

Thin strips of paper are stacked in a way that there is a thin gap of air between every other piece. If polarized terahertz waves transmit through this paper structure under a certain angle, their polarization state is turned or rotated. For certain frequencies, the rotation can be as large as 90 degrees. In this case, the device acts as a half wave plate. The paper wave plate is more efficient and markedly cheaper than more elaborately produced counterparts, such as those made from metamaterials.

In order to prove that production of this terahertz component is as easy as child's play, Benedikt Scherger and Martin Koch visited a local kindergarten near Marburg. The preschoolers devotedly produced paper strips that were combined to form a wave plate. Afterwards, the children were able to see the operational reliability of the wave plate's construction in the laboratory.

SOURCE: Philipps-Universität Marburg; http://idw-online.de/en/news456160

About the Author

Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)

Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.