Chirality and bianisotropy effects in plasmonic metasurfaces and their application to realize ultrathin optical circular polarizers

In this paper we develop a rigorous analytical theory relating the effective impedance of plasmonic metasurfaces to a generalized form of polarizability, which compactly describes the electric, magnetic and magneto-electric response of the individual inclusions and the overall array coupling. We apply this theory to the design of plasmonic metasurfaces composed of lithographically printed planar inclusions, showing that their inherent chiral and bianisotropic response may be exploited to produce ultrathin optical circular polarizers. Bianistropic effects, particularly relevant to enhance the response to circularly polarized light, may be maximized in specific incidence planes, as a function of the inclusion symmetries.