Aluminum nanowire polarizing grids: Fabrication and analysis

We have produced metal wire grids with 33 nm periodicity, using a thin film of a self-assembling diblock copolymer as a template. These grids, supported on fused quartz wafers, function as transmission polarizers for visible and near-ultraviolet lights. Their polarization efficiency is measured to be near 50% in the visible. Quantitative comparison with a new theoretical analysis of such wire grids indicates that they should perform well into the far UV. This analysis also explains the reversal in polarization direction at shorter wavelengths which we observe in our specimens.