Polarization conversion based on an all-dielectric metasurface for optical fiber applications

Polarization conversion (PC) in optical fiber is a very important operation in practice. To date, however, PC in fiber is usually achieved by coupling an external bulk element, or using the birefringence results from mechanically squeezing or coiling the fiber. In this paper, we propose a distinct approach for PC in optical fiber by introducing an all-dielectric metasurface in it, which has been proven to be compact, efficient and robust. Based on this approach, nearly perfect PCs from the linear polarization fundamental mode, i.e. ${LP}_{01}^x$ mode to various other polarization modes, are achieved, including the ${LP}_{01}^y$ mode, left/right-handed circular polarization mode, and also vector modes with radial and azimuthal polarizations. In addition, the fabrication of this all-dielectric-based metasurface is compatible with semiconductor manufacturing technologies, which makes the PC presented here competitive against traditional ones, and may find potential applications in optical fiber elements and systems. (paper)