Spin light (i.e., circularly polarized light) manipulation based on metasurfaces with a controlled geometric phase (i.e., Pancharatnam−Berry (PB) phase) has achieved great successes according to its convenient design and robust performances, by which the phase control is mainly determined by the rotation angle of each meta-atom. This PB phase can be regarded as a global effect for spin light; here, we propose a local phase manipulation for metasurfaces with planar chiral meta-atoms. Planar chiral meta-atoms break fundamental symmetry restrictions and do not need a rotation for these kinds of meta-atoms to manipulate the spin light, which significantly expands the functionality of metasurface as it is incorporated with other modulations (e.g., PB phase, propagation phase). As an example, spin-decoupled holographic imaging is demonstrated with robust and broadband properties. Our work definitely enriches the design of metasurfaces and may trigger more exciting chiral-optics applications.
Wide-angle imaging is an important function in photography and projection, but it also places high demands on the design of the imaging components of a camera. To eliminate the coma caused by the focusing of large-angle incident light, traditional wide-angle camera lenses are composed of complex optical components. Here, we propose a planar camera for wide-angle imaging with a silicon nitride metalens array mounted on a CMOS image sensor. By carefully designing proper phase profiles for metalenses with intentionally introduced shifted phase terms, the whole lens array is capable of capturing a scene with a large viewing angle and negligible distortion or aberrations. After a stitching process, we obtained a large viewing angle image with a range of > 120 ∘ using a compact planar camera. Our device demonstrates the advantages of metalenses in flexible phase design and compact integration, and the prospects for future imaging technology.
The design of large-scale, high-numerical-aperture, and broadband achromatism is a big challenge in metalens research. In fact, many colorful imaging systems have RGB color filters, which means the achromatism only for RGB lights would be sufficient. Avoiding broadband achromatism is expected to greatly improve the working efficiency of metalenses. Nevertheless, a proper bandpass filter is necessary under a white light illumination in the metalens integrated imaging system. Here we propose a bandpass-filter-integrated multiwavelength achromatic metalens ( NA = 0.2 ), which is designed using a searching optimization algorithm to achieve the achromatism of RGB lights with high efficiencies. The bandpass filter is implemented by composite DBRs and defect layers, by which three desired wavelengths are selected out. The simulations and experiments on the filter-integrated metalens definitely show a good RGB achromatism. Further imaging experiments demonstrate a higher signal-to-noise ratio and resolution compared with the one without the filter. Our approach provides not only an RGB achromatic meta-imaging device but also a new route to access a highly efficient spectrum tailoring metasystem by incorporating bandpass filter designs.
Self-imaging is an important function for signal transport, distribution, and processing in integrated optics, which is usually implemented by multimode interference or diffractive imaging process. However, these processes suffer from the resolution limit due to classical wave propagation dynamics. We propose and demonstrate subwavelength optical imaging in one-dimensional silicon waveguide arrays, which is implemented by cascading straight and curved waveguides in sequence. The coupling coefficient between the curved waveguides is tuned to be negative to reach a negative dispersion, which is an analog to a hyperbolic metamaterial with a negative refractive index. Therefore, it endows the waveguide array with a superlens function as it is connected with a traditional straight waveguide array with positive dispersion. With a judiciously engineered cascading silicon waveguide array, we successfully show the subwavelength self-imaging process of each input port of the waveguide array as the single point source. Our approach provides a strategy for dealing with optical signals at the subwavelength scale and indicates functional designs in high-density waveguide integrations.
Metasurfaces have manifested unprecedented capabilities in manipulating light by subwavelength unit cells, facilitating the miniaturization and multifunctions of optical systems. On the other hand, lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) technology is revolutionizing the integrated photonics, enabling multifunctional devices and applications. Yet the optical interface for coupling and manipulation is not sufficient and versatile. Here, we developed a geometric metasurface interface for LNOI waveguide and demonstrated several on-chip integrated devices for free space light field manipulations. By decorating waveguides with subwavelength optical antennas, we manipulated the guided waves into desired wavefronts in space, achieved complex free-space functions, such as focusing, multichannel vortex beam generation, and holography. Our architecture goes beyond the conventional gratings and enriches the functionalities of metasurface, which would open up a new perspective for future versatile guided-wave driven optical devices.
Metasurfaces with local phase tuning by subwavelength elements promise unprecedented possibilities for ultrathin and multifunctional optical devices in which geometric phase design is widely used due to its resonant‐free and large tolerance in fabrications. By arranging the orientations of anisotropic nanoantennas, the geometric phase‐based metasurfaces can convert the incident spin light to its orthogonal state, and enable flexible wave front engineering together with the function of a half‐wave plate. Herein, by incorporating the propagation phase, another important optical device of quarter‐wave plate together with the wave front engineering as well, which is implemented by controlling both the cross‐ and copolarized light simultaneously with a singlet metasurface, is realized. Highly efficient conversion of the spin light to a variety of linearly polarized light is obtained for meta‐holograms, metalens focusing and imaging in the blue light region. This work provides a new strategy for efficient metasurfaces with both phase and polarization control, and enriches the functionalities of metasurface devices for wider application scenarios.
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