Depolarizing optical effect by ZnO nanowire arrays

The changes in the polarization state of light due to transmission through ZnO nanowires grown upon FTO substrate is analyzed. It is shown that the inhomogeneities on a nanometric scale induce non trivial changes on the polarization state of light, that turns perfect polarized light into partially polarized light. Correlations are found between the morphology of the NW arrays and the degree of polarization of the transmitted light. It is shown that as the nanowires become longer, the light polarization is more disturbed, while the increase of the nanowire density helps to preserve light polarization.