Subwavelength Quarter-Waveplate Composed of L-Shaped Metal Nanoparticles

We propose a subwavelength quarter-waveplate composed of four L-shaped nanoparticles that act as optical nanoantennas and investigate its optical properties using the finite-difference time-domain method. When polarization of the incident beam is parallel to one arm of the antenna, polarization of the scattering light rotates 45° with respect to that of the incident beam due to the symmetry of the L-shaped nanoantennas. Phase retardation is generated by changing the arm length of the antennas. The influence of the distance between the L-shaped nanoantennas on the far-field radiation is also discussed.