Nanosized quarter-wave retarder based on fractal anisotropic multilayer structures

Abstract

A fractal Cantor-like multilayer structure with one constituent material exhibiting optical birefringence is numerically shown to function as a quarter wave retarder. The proposed device is several times smaller than the corresponding conventional QWR and contains about 15 limes less anisotropic material. Together with the apparent absence of form anisotropy, it suggests that material birefringence can be considerably enhanced when the material in question is arranged in a deterministic non-periodic fashion, presumably by localization of light that is known to occur in such systems.