Tailored femtosecond laser fabrication of reflective waveplates

San-Blas, Alejandro; Casquero, Noemi; Martinez-Calderon, Miguel; Buencuerpo, Jeronimo; Sanchez-Brea, Luis Miguel; del-Hoyo, J; Olaizola, Santiago Miguel; Rodriguez, Ainara; Gomez-Aranzadi, Mikel

Laser induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) can be studied as waveplates due to the birefringence induced by the nanoripples, with easy fabrication since they are fabricated in a one-step process by laser, where LIPSS geometry are defined by the characteristics of the laser and the substrate. The optical properties of these waveplates are defined by LIPSS parameters such as period, depth or width of the ripples. In this work we have measured the change in polarization of the light reflected from LIPSS generated on stainless steel. Results show a gradual change in polarization as the parameters employed in the fabrication vary. As shown in our experiments with a setup based in cylindrical focusing lens, the fast fabrication of samples with applications as waveplates is demonstrated.