No Arabic abstract
Optical metasurfaces consist of a 2D arrangement of scatterers, and they control the amplitude, phase, and polarization of an incidence field on demand. Optical metasurfaces are the cornerstone for a future generation of flat optical devices in a wide range of applications. The rapidly growing advances in nanofabrication have made the versatile design and analysis of these ultra-thin surfaces an ever-growing necessity. However, despite their importance, a comprehensive theory to describe the optical response of periodic metasurfaces in closed-form and analytical expressions has not been formulated, and prior attempts were frequently approximate. Here, we develop a theory that analytically links the properties of the scatterer, from which a periodic metasurface is made, to its optical response via the lattice coupling matrix. The scatterers are represented by their polarizability or T matrix, and our theory works for normal and oblique incidence. We provide explicit expressions for the optical response up to octupolar order in both spherical and Cartesian coordinates. Several examples demonstrate that our analytical tool constitutes a paradigm shift in designing and understanding optical metasurfaces. Novel fully-diffracting metagratings and particle-independent polarization filters are proposed, and novel insights into the response of Huygens metasurfaces under oblique incidence are provided. Our analytical expressions are a powerful tool for exploring the physics of metasurfaces and designing novel flat optics devices.
There is today a growing need to accurately model the angular scattering response of metasurfaces for optical analog processing applications. However, the current metasurface modeling techniques are not well suited for such a task since they are limited to small angular spectrum transformations, as shall be demonstrated. The goal of this work is to overcome this limitation by improving the modeling accuracy of these techniques and, specifically, to provide a better description of the angular response of metasurfaces. This is achieved by extending the current methods, which are restricted to dipolar responses and weak spatially dispersive effects, so as to include quadrupolar responses and higher-order spatially dispersive components. The accuracy of the newly derived multipolar model is demonstrated by predicting the angular scattering of a dielectric metasurface. This results in a modeling accuracy that is at least two times better than the standard dipolar model.
The classical adjoint-based topology optimization (TO) method, based on the use of a random continuous dielectric function as an adjoint variable distribution, is known to be one of the most efficient optimization methods that enable the design of optical devices with outstanding performances. However, the strategy for selecting the optimal solution requires a very fine pixelation of the permittivity function of the profile under optimization. Typically, at least 28 pixels are needed while optimizing a one wavelength wide 1D metagrating. This makes it very difficult to extend TO methods to large-scale optimization problems. In this paper, we introduce a new concept of adjoint-based topology optimization that enables fast and efficient geometry based design of both periodic and aperiodic metasurfaces. The structures are built from nano-rods whose widths and positions are to be adjusted. Our new approach requires a very low number of design parameters, thus leading to a drastic reduction in the computational time: about an order of magnitude. Hence, this concept makes it possible to address the optimization of large-scale structures in record time. As a proof-of-concept we apply this method to the design of (i) a periodic metagrating, optimized to have a specific response into a particular direction, and (ii) a dielectric metalens (aperiodic metasurface), enabling a high energy focusing into a well-defined focal spot.
Diffractive photonic devices manipulate light via local and nonlocal optical modes. Local devices, such as metasurfaces, can shape a wavefront at multiple selected wavelengths, but inevitably modify light across the spectrum; nonlocal devices, such as grating filters, offer great frequency selectivity but limited spatial control. Here, we introduce a rational design paradigm using quasi-bound states in the continuum to realize multifunctional nonlocal devices: metasurfaces that produce narrowband spatially tailored wavefronts at multiple selected wavelengths and yet are otherwise transparent.
Lithium niobate is a multi-functional material, which has been regarded as one of the most promising platform for the multi-purpose optical components and photonic circuits. Targeting at the miniature optical components and systems, lithium niobate microstructures with feature sizes of several to hundreds of micrometers have been demonstrated, such as waveguides, photonic crystals, micro-cavities, and modulators, et al. In this paper, we presented subwavelength nanograting metasurfaces fabricated in a crystalline lithium niobate film, which hold the possibilities towards further shrinking the footprint of the photonic devices with new optical functionalities. Due to the collective lattice interactions between isolated ridge resonances, distinct transmission spectral resonances were observed, which could be tunable by varying the structural parameters. Furthermore, our metasurfaces are capable to show high efficiency transmission structural colors as a result of structural resonances and intrinsic high transparency of lithium niobate in visible spectral range. Our results would pave the way for the new types of ultracompact photonic devices based on lithium niobate.
Actively tunable and reconfigurable wavefront shaping by optical metasurfaces poses a significant technical challenge often requiring unconventional materials engineering and nanofabrication. Most wavefront-shaping metasurfaces can be considered local in that their operation depends on the responses of individual meta-units. In contrast, nonlocal metasurfaces function based on the modes supported by many adjacent meta-units, resulting in sharp spectral features but typically no spatial control of the outgoing wavefront. Recently, nonlocal metasurfaces based on quasi-bound states in the continuum have been shown to produce designer wavefronts only across the narrow bandwidth of the supported Fano resonance. Here, we leverage the enhanced light-matter interactions associated with sharp Fano resonances to explore the active modulation of optical spectra and wavefronts by refractive index tuning and mechanical stretching. We experimentally demonstrate proof-of-principle thermo-optically tuned nonlocal metasurfaces made of silicon, and numerically demonstrate nonlocal metasurfaces that thermo-optically switch between distinct wavefront shapes. This meta-optics platform for thermally reconfigurable wavefront-shaping requires neither unusual materials and fabrication nor active control of individual meta-units.