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Tunable mode converter is a key component of channel switching and routing for optical communication system by adopting mode-division multiplexing. Traditional mode converter hardly implements high-order mode conversion and dynamic tunability simultaneously. In this study, we design a tunable mode converter filled with liquid crystal, which can convert fundamental mode into multiple high-order modes (TE0, TE1, and TE2) with a good performance and low intrinsic loss. For this multiple-objective task, we propose an inverse design framework based on the adjoint method. To experimentally prove our design, a tunable mode converter filled with air or water and a mode demultiplexer are fabricated to implement dynamic routing. The experimental results agree well with the simulation and reveal the crosstalk only around −7 dB. With its performance and efficiency, our proposed design flow can be a powerful tool for multifunction device design.

Generating 2D diffraction orders with uniform or tailored intensity distribution is highly desired for various applications including depth perception, parallel laser fabrication and optical tweezer. However, previous strategies lack the abilities to tailor multiple parameters of output light in different diffraction orders simultaneously. While such ability plays an important role in achieving various different functionalities parallelly. Here, we demonstrate a method for encoding arbitrary phase profiles to different diffraction orders with controllable polarization states by applying double-phase method into elaborately designed metasurface. Sixteen independent holograms that generated by GS algorithm are successfully encoded into 4 × 4 uniformly distributed diffraction orders. Hence, the predefined holographic images can be observed at the Fourier plane. Meanwhile, the corresponding polarization states of different orders are manipulated according to their Fourier coefficients. For verifying the polarization state of each holographic image, we calculate the Stokes parameter of each order from measured intensity distributions in the experiment. The proposed method provides an effective way to tailor multiple properties of output diffraction orders. Meanwhile, it may promote the realization of achieving various functionalities parallelly such as spectral-polarization imaging or phase-polarization detection and enhance the capabilities of optical communication systems.

In a wide range of applications such as healthcare treatment, environmental monitoring, food processing and storage, and semiconductor chip manufacturing, relative humidity (RH) sensing is required. However, traditional fiber-optic humidity sensors face the challenges of miniaturization and indirectly obtaining humidity values. Here, we propose and demonstrate an optical barcode technique by cooperating with RH meta-tip, which can predict the humidity values directly. Such RH meta-tip is composed of fiber-optic sensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect and graphene oxide film as humidity sensitizer. While SPR sensor is composed of multimode fiber (MMF) integrated with metallic metasurface. Dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithm is used to obtain the warp path distance (WPD) sequence between the measured reflection spectrum and the spectra of the precalibrated database. The distance sequence is transformed into a pseudo-color barcode, and the humidity value is corresponded to the lowest distance, which can be read by human eyes. The RH measurement depends on the collective changes of the reflection spectrum rather than tracking a single specific resonance peak/dip. This work can open up new doors to the development of a humidity sensor with direct RH recognition by human eyes.

As an inherent characteristic of light, polarization plays important roles in information storage, display and even encryption. Metasurfaces, composed of specifically designed subwavelength units in a two-dimensional plane, offer a great convenience for polarization manipulation, yet improving their integrability and broadband fidelity remain significant challenges. Here, based on the combination of various subwavelength cross-nanofins (CNs), a new type of metasurface for multichannel hybrid polarization distribution in near-field is proposed. Sub-wavelength CN units with various waveplate (WP) functionalities, such as frequency-division multiplexing WP, half-WP and quarter-WP are implemented with high efficiency in broadband. High-resolution grayscale image encryption, multi-image storage and rapid polarization detection are demonstrated by encoding the WP pixels into single, double and four channels, respectively. All these applications possess good fidelity in an ultrabroad wavelength band from 1.2 to 1.9 µm, and the high degree of integrability, easy fabrication and multifunction make the CN-shaped WP pixels a promising candidate in optical device miniaturization, quantum applications and imaging technologies.

The interactions of photonic spin angular momentum and orbital angular momentum, i.e., the spin-orbit coupling in focused beams, evanescent waves or artificial photonic structures, have attracted intensive investigations for the unusual fundamental phenomena in physics and potential applications in optical and quantum systems. It is of fundamental importance to enhance performance of spin-orbit coupling in optics. Here, we demonstrate a titanium dioxide (TiO2)–based all-dielectric metasurface exhibiting a high efficient control of photonic spin Hall effect (PSHE) in a transmissive configuration. This metasurface can achieve high-efficiency symmetric spin-dependent trajectory propagation due to the spin-dependent Pancharatnam-Berry phase. The as-formed metadevices with high-aspect-ratio TiO2 nanofins are able to realize (86%, measured at 514 nm) and broadband PSHEs in visible regime. Our results provide useful insights on high-efficiency metasurfaces with versatile functionalities in visible regime.

Metasurfaces are planar devices containing delicately designed nanoantenna or resonator arrays that allow for beam shaping, super resolution imaging, and holography. Hybrid metasurface – by integrating with tunable materials such as two-dimensional materials and phase change materials (PCMs) – provides a potential platform for active modulation of wavefronts. Specifically, PCMs can flexibly switch between crystalline and amorphous states with nonvolatile property under external stimuli and provide a large refractive permittivity contrast. Using metasurfaces based on PCM to manipulate wavefronts may provide new opportunities for switchable functionalities. Here, we propose two types of metasurface devices based on whole PCM films to realize switchable holography and simultaneous phase and interference encryption. This feature can be used to encrypt information in a switched state and store camouflage information in the other state by simply applying external thermal stimuli to the entire metasurface. This method can be applied in areas such as beam shaping, optical encryption, and anti-counterfeiting.

Non‐Hermitian metasurfaces with chiral exceptional points (EPs) in their scattering matrices have garnered significant attention due to their potential for optical polarization manipulation and wavefront control. However, existing approaches predominantly operate under normal incidence conditions, limiting their application in the manipulation of chiral EPs in momentum space. Here, the wavelength‐fixed manipulation of the chiral EPs across a wide‐range momentum space using a polyatomic metasurface is realized, which is attributed to the effective modulation of the collective interference of guided‐mode resonances excited by oblique transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) illuminations. Further, both theoretical and experimental analyses are conducted to explore the potential applications of the proposed design in the wavevector‐ and spin‐selective manipulation of reflection intensity and optical encryption. This work provides a straightforward method to realize and manipulate chiral EPs in momentum space at a fixed operational wavelength, paving the way for designing polarization‐selective and wavevector‐selective devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The superior capability of wavefront manipulation makes metasurfaces a promising platform for implementing high‐density information storage and multifold optical encryption. Although some metasurfaces have realized information encryption, it is still challenging to implement polarization‐encrypted grayscale images in both linear and nonlinear channels. Here, a novel approach to realize multichannel linear and nonlinear information encryptions is proposed based on nonlinear Malus metasurfaces composed of single‐sized meta‐atoms, in which the polarization states of the linear and nonlinear signals can be decoupled. As a proof of concept, two distinct grayscale images with different polarizations have been encrypted in the fundamental and second harmonic wave channels simultaneously. Besides, by further introducing the nonlinear Pancharatnam‐Berry phase, a tri‐channel polarization encrypted metasurface with a multi‐level grayscale image in the near field and two holographic images in the far field has been experimentally demonstrated at the second harmonic frequency. This work provides more degrees of freedom for multichannel information storage and opens an avenue for optical information encryption in both linear and nonlinear regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structured light (SL) sensing technology, based on the triangulation principle, is widely employed for depth perception in various applications such as face recognition, human‐computer interaction, machine vision, and more. In this approach, the baseline length, which refers to the distance between the projection device and the camera, is a critical parameter that affects depth measurement and system miniaturization. Recently, metasurfaces have emerged as promising devices for constructing compact optoelectronic systems due to their excellent performance in wavefront modulation of light and ultra‐thin characteristics. In this study, a metasurface‐based monocular SL depth detection scheme is proposed that incorporates a specially designed 3D holographic projection. Under this projected light field, the entire 3D space is labeled, and depth information can be obtained without considering the baseline length, which can further reduce the volume of SL systems. Additionally, a template‐matching algorithm based on correlation coefficient analysis is developed and experimentally demonstrates its feasibility by precisely positioning objects. It is believed that this work opens up a new perspective for compact, lightweight, and flexible design of SL sensing systems, and has a promising future in quantitative detection, automatic location, and industrial measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the limitation of nanofabrication technology, nanostructured arrays and devices are usually of equal height, and it is difficult to change simultaneously its height in the Z direction at X–Y direction regulation. However, the tunable height as an indispensable part of structural spatial freedom control is very conducive to the functional expansion and innovation of nanodevices. Here, a grayscale assembled fabrication method is developed by combining e‐beam lithography with atomic layer deposition and transfer technology, and a wide range of the height gradient of nanostructures can be realized in the same array and then applied in high‐quality images. Following this strategy, ultra‐realistic relief‐nanostructured images with 256 grayscale levels are demonstrated, consisting of height‐varying nanopillars with 100 nm in pixel size and 6.4×1010 dpi in resolution. Especially, multi‐dimensional structural color based on metasurfaces with C4 symmetric pixels is designed and prepared by height regulation nanofabrication, enabling a strong multi‐dimensional control ability in hue, saturation, and brightness of the structural color display with the single pixel of 1.5 µm in size. The as‐developed grayscale nanoconfigurations open a new approach for multidimensionally structural regulations, showing great applied potential not only in high‐resolution imaging but also in more advancednanophotonic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]