Wide-angle optical half-wave plate from the field transformation approach and form-birefringence theory.

In this paper, we theoretically design and analyse a wide-angle optical half-wave plate by combining the field transformation (FT) approach with the form-birefringence theory. The FT method is a general approach to manipulate electromagnetic wave propagations from pre-defined boundary conditions and artificial media by design. In theory, the approach is valid for both parallel and perpendicular polarizations. In practice, the resulting medium can be mimicked by a form-birefringent structure which has the same dispersion properties for a wide range of incident angles. A proof concept design for optical half-wave plate is designed for near-infrared operations. The transmittance of proposed device is greater than 0.8 with a polarized state change under 75° oblique incidence.