A.
Papakostas,1,2 A. Potts,1,2 D. M. Bagnall,1,2
S. L. Prosvirnin,3 H. J. Coles,2 and N. I. Zheludev1
1Department
of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
2Department of Electronics and Computer Science, University of
Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
3Institute of Radio Astronomy of National Academy of Sciences of
Ukraine, Kharkov, 61002, Ukraine
Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 107404 (14 March 2003)
Abstract
We report that planar chiral structures affect the
polarization state of light in a manner similar to three-dimensional
chiral (optical active) media. In experiments with artificial
metal-on-silicon chiral planar gratings of 442 wallpaper group
symmetry, containing millions of chiral elements per square
centimeter, we observed rotation of the polarization azimuth in excess
of 30° of light diffracted from it. The rotation was found to change
its sign for two enantiomeric forms of the media and to have
components associated with both the structural arrangement and the
chirality of individual structural elements.