jin Jin

Multispectral optical metasurfaces enabled by achromatic phase transition

The independent control of electromagnetic waves with different oscillating frequencies is critical in the modern electromagnetic techniques, such as wireless communications and multispectral imaging. To obtain complete control of different light waves with optical materials, the chromatic dispersion should be carefully controlled, which is however extremely difficult. In this paper, we propose a method to control the behaviors of different light waves through a metasurface which is able to generate achromatic geometric phase. Using this approach, a doughnut-shaped and a solid light spot were achieved at the same focal plane using two light sources with different wavelengths as used in the stimulation emission depletion (STED) microscope system. In order to reveal the full capacity of such method, tight focusing at multiple wavelengths is also represented, where the focal spots of different wavelengths are located at the same position. The results provided here may open a new door to the design of subminiature optical components and integrated optical system operating at multiple wavelengths.

Fabrication of anisotropically arrayed nano-slots metasurfaces using reflective plasmonic lithography

Nanofabrication technology with high-resolution, high-throughput and low-cost is essential for the development of nanoplasmonic and nanophotonic devices. At present, most metasurfaces are fabricated in a point by point writing manner with electron beam lithography or a focused ion beam, which imposes a serious cost barrier with respect to practical applications. Near field optical lithography, seemingly providing a high-resolution and low-cost way, however, suffers from the ultra shallow depth and poor fidelity of obtained photoresist patterns due to the exponential decay feature of evanescent waves. Here, we propose a method of surface plasmonic imaging lithography by introducing a reflective plasmonic lens to amplify and compensate evanescent waves, resulting in the production of nano resist patterns with high fidelity, contrast and enhanced depth beyond that usually obtained by near field optical lithography. As examples, a discrete and anisotropically arrayed nano-slots mask pattern with different orientations and a size of 40 nm × 120 nm could be imaged in photoresist and transferred successfully onto a metal layer through an etching process. Evidence for the pattern quality is given by virtue of the fabricated metasurface lens devices showing good focusing performance in experiments. It is believed that this method provides a parallel, low-cost, high-throughput and large-area nanofabrication route for fabricating nanostructures of holograms, vortex phase plates, bio-sensors and solar cells etc.

Generation and detection of orbital angular momentum via metasurface

Beams carrying orbital angular momentum possess a significant potential for modern optical technologies ranging from classical and quantum communication to optical manipulation. In this paper, we theoretically design and experimentally demonstrate an ultracompact array of elliptical nanoholes, which could convert the circularly polarized light into the cross-polarized vortex beam. To measure the topological charges of orbital angular momentum in a simple manner, another elliptical nanoholes array is designed to generate reference beam as a reference light. This approach may provide a new way for the generation and detection of orbital angular momentum in a compact device.

Catenary nanostructures as compact Bessel beam generators.

Non-diffracting Bessel beams, including zero-order and high-order Bessel Beams which carry orbital angular momentum (OAM), enable a variety of important applications in optical micromanipulation, sub-diffraction imaging, high speed photonics/quantum communication, etc. The commonly used ways to create Bessel beams, including an axicon or a digital hologram written to a spatial light modulator (SLM), have great challenges to operate at the nanoscale. Here we theoretically design and experimentally demonstrate one kind of planar Bessel beam generators based on metasurfaces with analytical structures perforated in ultra-thin metallic screens. Continuous phase modulation between 0 to 2π is realized with a single element. In addition, due to the dispersionless phase shift stemming from spin-orbit interaction, the proposed device can work in a wide wavelength range. The results may find applications in future optical communication, nanofabrication and super-resolution imaging, etc.

Metasurface-based broadband hologram with high tolerance to fabrication errors

With new degrees of freedom to achieve full control of the optical wavefront, metasurfaces could overcome the fabrication embarrassment faced by the metamaterials. In this paper, a broadband hologram using metasurface consisting of elongated nanoapertures array with different orientations has been experimentally demonstrated. Owing to broadband characteristic of the polarization-dependent scattering, the performance is verified at working wavelength ranging from 405 nm to 914 nm. Furthermore, the tolerance to the fabrication errors, which include the length and width of the elongated aperture, the shape deformation and the phase noise, has been theoretically investigated to be as large as 10% relative to the original hologram. We believe the method proposed here is promising in emerging applications such as holographic display, optical information processing and lithography technology etc.