Reconfigurable image processing metasurfaces with phase-change materials.

Optical metasurfaces have enabled analog computing and image processing within sub-wavelength footprints, and with reduced power consumption and faster speeds. While various image processing metasurfaces have been demonstrated, most of the considered devices are static and lack reconfigurability. Yet, the ability to dynamically reconfigure processing operations is key for metasurfaces to be used within practical computing systems. Here, we demonstrate a passive edge-detection metasurface operating in the near-infrared regime whose response can be drastically modified by temperature variations smaller than 10 °C around a CMOS-compatible temperature of 65 °C. Such reconfigurability is achieved by leveraging the insulator-to-metal phase transition of a thin layer of vanadium dioxide, which strongly alters the metasurface nonlocal response. Importantly, this reconfigurability is accompanied by performance metrics-such as numerical aperture, efficiency, isotropy, and polarization-independence - close to optimal, and it is combined with a simple geometry compatible with large-scale manufacturing. Our work paves the way to a new generation of ultra-compact, tunable and passive devices for all-optical computation, with potential applications in augmented reality, remote sensing and bio-medical imaging.

Broadband angular spectrum differentiation using dielectric metasurfaces.

Signal processing is of critical importance for various science and technology fields. Analog optical processing can provide an effective solution to perform large-scale and real-time data processing, superior to its digital counterparts, which have the disadvantages of low operation speed and large energy consumption. As an important branch of modern optics, Fourier optics exhibits great potential for analog optical image processing, for instance for edge detection. While these operations have been commonly explored to manipulate the spatial content of an image, mathematical operations that act directly over the angular spectrum of an image have not been pursued. Here, we demonstrate manipulation of the angular spectrum of an image, and in particular its differentiation, using dielectric metasurfaces operating across the whole visible spectrum. We experimentally show that this technique can be used to enhance desired portions of the angular spectrum of an image. Our approach can be extended to develop more general angular spectrum analog meta-processors, and may open opportunities for optical analog data processing and biological imaging.

Dispersion engineered metasurfaces for broadband, high-NA, high-efficiency, dual-polarization analog image processing.

Optical metasurfaces performing analog image processing - such as spatial differentiation and edge detection - hold the potential to reduce processing times and power consumption, while avoiding bulky 4 F lens systems. However, current designs have been suffering from trade-offs between spatial resolution, throughput, polarization asymmetry, operational bandwidth, and isotropy. Here, we show that dispersion engineering provides an elegant way to design metasurfaces where all these critical metrics are simultaneously optimized. We experimentally demonstrate silicon metasurfaces performing isotropic and dual-polarization edge detection, with numerical apertures above 0.35 and spectral bandwidths of 35 nm around 1500 nm. Moreover, we introduce quantitative metrics to assess the efficiency of these devices. Thanks to the low loss nature and dual-polarization response, our metasurfaces feature large throughput efficiencies, approaching the theoretical maximum for a given NA. Our results pave the way for low-loss, high-efficiency and broadband optical computing and image processing with free-space metasurfaces.

Exceptional points and non-Hermitian photonics at the nanoscale.

Exceptional points (EPs) arising in non-Hermitian systems have led to a variety of intriguing wave phenomena, and have been attracting increased interest in various physical platforms. In this Review, we highlight the latest fundamental advances in the context of EPs in various nanoscale systems, and overview the theoretical progress related to EPs, including higher-order EPs, bulk Fermi arcs and Weyl exceptional rings. We peek into EP-associated emerging technologies, in particular focusing on the influence of noise for sensing near EPs, improving the efficiency in asymmetric transmission based on EPs, optical isolators in nonlinear EP systems and novel concepts to implement EPs in topological photonics. We also discuss the constraints and limitations of the applications relying on EPs, and offer parting thoughts about promising ways to tackle them for advanced nanophotonic applications.

Tailored resonant waveguide gratings for augmented reality.

We explore the use of tailored resonant waveguide gratings (RWG) embedded in a glass-like matrix as angularly tolerant tri-band reflection filters under oblique excitation. Through inverse design we optimize 1D grating structures to support multi-frequency narrowband resonances in an otherwise transparent background, ideally suited for augmented reality applications. In particular, we show theoretically and experimentally that a single RWG can be tailored to provide reflection levels larger than 50% under p-polarized excitation at three distinct wavelengths of choice, over a narrow bandwidth and within a substantial angular range around 58° incidence, while simultaneously eliminating ghost reflections from the glass/air interface. Similar performance can be achieved for s-polarization by cascading two RWG's. Moreover, we demonstrate that these metrics of performance are maintained when the devices are fabricated using roll-to-roll techniques, as required for large-area industrial fabrication. Overall, these devices show exciting potential as large-area transparent heads-up displays, due to their ease of fabrication and material compatibility.

Unitary Excitation Transfer between Coupled Cavities Using Temporal Switching.

Tailored time variations can enable efficient control over signal flows, giving rise to exotic wave phenomena. In this work, we demonstrate how abrupt temporal switching of the coupling between two cavities can tailor the energy flow between them beyond the limitations of static scenarios, enabling unitary excitation transfer. The proposed scheme is robust with respect to a wide range of nonidealities, with implications for classical and quantum phenomena, from computing to nanophotonic systems.

Self-Assembled Periodic Nanostructures Using Martensitic Phase Transformations.

We describe a novel approach for the rational design and synthesis of self-assembled periodic nanostructures using martensitic phase transformations. We demonstrate this approach in a thin film of perovskite SrSnO3 with reconfigurable periodic nanostructures consisting of regularly spaced regions of sharply contrasted dielectric properties. The films can be designed to have different periodicities and relative phase fractions via chemical doping or strain engineering. The dielectric contrast within a single film can be tuned using temperature and laser wavelength, effectively creating a variable photonic crystal. Our results show the realistic possibility of designing large-area self-assembled periodic structures using martensitic phase transformations with the potential of implementing "built-to-order" nanostructures for tailored optoelectronic functionalities.

Anomalous optical forces in PT-symmetric waveguides.

Evanescently coupled passive waveguides experience optical forces of attractive or repulsive nature, depending on the mode of operation. Here we explore the optical forces between parity-time-symmetric coupled waveguides, with balanced levels of gain and loss. We find that, besides the diagonal stress components that result in a pressure normal to the surface of the waveguides, this system exhibits an off-diagonal stress component that creates a shear along the propagation direction. In addition, for a critical value of balanced gain and loss, the normal pressure can be reduced to zero. These anomalous optical forces are related to the unusual power flow in coupled active-passive channels, and open interesting opportunities for microfluidics and micro-optomechanical systems.

Optical gradient forces between evanescently coupled waveguides.

Evanescently coupled dielectric waveguides exert optical forces on each other, which may be attractive or repulsive as a function of the excited optical mode. Through energy conservation considerations, it is possible to show that the optical force between two waveguides is proportional to the derivative of the effective propagation index with respect to the separation between waveguides. Here, we prove analytically that the lateral force calculated from the spatial derivative of the propagation index is equivalent to the one obtained from a formal calculation based on the Maxwell's stress tensor. Interestingly, this latter approach reveals that the sign and magnitude of the force depend only on the field intensity at the channel interfaces. In addition, our derivation provides insights into the design of the waveguide profile in order to increase or decrease the optical forces between coupled channels.

Integrated nano-opto-electro-mechanical sensor for spectrometry and nanometrology.

Spectrometry is widely used for the characterization of materials, tissues, and gases, and the need for size and cost scaling is driving the development of mini and microspectrometers. While nanophotonic devices provide narrowband filtering that can be used for spectrometry, their practical application has been hampered by the difficulty of integrating tuning and read-out structures. Here, a nano-opto-electro-mechanical system is presented where the three functionalities of transduction, actuation, and detection are integrated, resulting in a high-resolution spectrometer with a micrometer-scale footprint. The system consists of an electromechanically tunable double-membrane photonic crystal cavity with an integrated quantum dot photodiode. Using this structure, we demonstrate a resonance modulation spectroscopy technique that provides subpicometer wavelength resolution. We show its application in the measurement of narrow gas absorption lines and in the interrogation of fiber Bragg gratings. We also explore its operation as displacement-to-photocurrent transducer, demonstrating optomechanical displacement sensing with integrated photocurrent read-out.

Coherent Atom-Phonon Interaction through Mode Field Coupling in Hybrid Optomechanical Systems.

We propose a novel type of optomechanical coupling which enables a tripartite interaction between a quantum emitter, an optical mode, and a macroscopic mechanical oscillator. The interaction uses a mechanism we term mode field coupling: a mechanical displacement modifies the spatial distribution of the optical mode field, which, in turn, modulates the emitter-photon coupling rate. In properly designed multimode optomechanical systems, we can achieve situations in which mode field coupling is the only possible interaction pathway for the system. This enables, for example, swapping of a single excitation between emitter and phonon, creation of nonclassical states of motion, and mechanical ground-state cooling in the bad-cavity regime. Importantly, the emitter-phonon coupling rate can be enhanced through an optical drive field, allowing active control of the emitter-phonon coupling for realistic experimental parameters.

Spin-Dependent Emission from Arrays of Planar Chiral Nanoantennas Due to Lattice and Localized Plasmon Resonances.

Chiral plasmonic nanoantennas manifest a strong asymmetric response to circularly polarized light. Particularly, the geometric handedness of a plasmonic structure can alter the circular polarization state of light emitted from nearby sources, leading to a spin-dependent emission direction. In past experiments, these effects have been attributed entirely to the localized plasmonic resonances of single antennas. In this work, we demonstrate that, when chiral nanoparticles are arranged in diffractive arrays, lattice resonances play a primary role in determining the spin-dependent emission of light. We fabricate 2D diffractive arrays of planar chiral metallic nanoparticles embedded in a light-emitting dye-doped slab. By measuring the polarized photoluminescence enhancement, we show that the geometric chirality of the array's unit cell induces a preferential circular polarization, and that both the localized surface plasmon resonance and the delocalized hybrid plasmonic-photonic mode contribute to this phenomenon. By further mapping the angle-resolved degree of circular polarization, we demonstrate that strong chiral dissymmetries are mainly localized at the narrow emission directions of the surface lattice resonances. We validate these results against a coupled dipole model calculation, which correctly reproduces the main features. Our findings demonstrate that, in diffractive arrays, lattice resonances play a primary role into the light spin-orbit effect, introducing a highly nontrivial behavior in the angular spectra.