Abstract

Silver films of less than 5 nm mass thickness are discontinuous and have unusual optical properties. The optical constants calculated from Maxwell–Garnett theory predict the discontinuous film to be birefringent, have a large refractive index, and have highly anisotropic extinction coefficients. The polarizing properties of waveguides containing such a film are examined theoretically and experimentally. Extinction ratios of 35 dB/mm at 836 nm with 2 dB/mm loss for the TM polarization have been measured on ion-exchanged waveguides overlayed with an ultrathin silver film.

© 1992 Optical Society of America