Direct polarization measurement using a multiplexed Pancharatnam–Berry metahologram

Abstract

Polarization, which represents the vector nature of electromagnetic waves, plays a fundamental role in optics. Fast, simple, and broadband polarization state characterization is required by applications such as polarization communication, polarimetry, and remote sensing. However, conventional polarization detection methods face great difficulty in determining the phase difference between orthogonal polarization states and often require a series of measurements. Here, we demonstrate how polarization-dependent holography enables direct polarization detection in a single measurement. Using a multiplexed Pancharatnam-Berry phase metasurface, we generate orthogonally polarized holograms that partially overlap with a spatially varying phase difference. Both amplitude and phase difference can be read from the holographic image in the circular polarization basis, facilitating the extraction of all Stokes parameters for polarized light. The metahologram detects polarization reliably at several near-infrared to visible wavelengths, and simulations predict broadband operation in the 580-940 nm spectral range. This method enables fast and compact polarization analyzing devices, e.g., for spectroscopy, sensing, and communications.

Polarization Detection Using Light's Orbital Angular Momentum

“…[14,15] Benefiting from the ultrathin nature and high resolution, the use of optical metasurfaces has emerged as a potential candidate for device miniaturization and system integration and a strong candidate for polarization detection. Optical metasurfaces have been used in various polarization detection systems, including circular polarization detection, [14,16] full polarization measurement, [17][18][19] and polarimetric imaging. [20,21] In 1992, it was recognized that light beams with a helical phase structure described by exp(iℓθ), where θ is the azimuthal angle and ℓ is the topological charge of optical vortex, carry an orbital angular momentum (OAM) of ℓℏ per photon.…”

Optical Metasurfaces for Generation and Superposition of Optical Ring Vortex Beams

“…By controlling the major axis, ellipticity, and handedness of the incident polarization state, we have experimentally demonstrated various superpositions of ring OAM beams, whose intensities are spatially modulated after passing through a polarizer. The unusual properties of the developed metasurface devices are very attractive for many research fields, including polarization measurement, [35][36][37][38] optical communications, optical tweezers (particle rotation), and quantum sciences. [39,40] As an application example, we experimentally demonstrate polarization measurement based on this new technology.…”

“…The analyzer has a fixed transmission axis along the x-axis. Unlike the polarization measurement based on the metasurface hologram design, [36] our work is based on the integration of an axicon, a vortex beam generator, and a defector.…”

Metasurfaces for biomedical applications: imaging and sensing from a nanophotonics perspective

“…Such metasurface-based flat devices represent a new class of optical components that are compact, flat, and lightweight. Numerous devices based on metasurfaces have been developed, including metasurface lenses (metalenses) [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], waveplates [20][21][22][23], polarimeters [24][25][26], and holograms [27][28][29]. For metalenses, in particular, numerical aperture (NA) as high as 0.97 was demonstrated [15].…”