ABSTRACT
Image processing and edge detection are at the core of several newly emerging technologies, such as augmented reality, autonomous driving, and more generally object recognition. Image processing is typically performed digitally using integrated electronic circuits and algorithms, implying fundamental size and speed limitations, as well as significant power needs. On the other hand, it can also be performed in a low-power analog fashion using Fourier optics, requiring, however, bulky optical components. Here, we introduce dielectric metasurfaces that perform optical image edge detection in the analog domain using a subwavelength geometry that can be readily integrated with detectors. The metasurface is composed of a suitably engineered array of nanobeams designed to perform either first- or second-order spatial differentiation. We experimentally demonstrate the second-derivative operation on an input image, showing the potential of all-optical edge detection using a silicon metasurface geometry working at a numerical aperture as large as 0.35.
ABSTRACT
We demonstrate that arrays of hourglass-shaped nanopillars patterned into crystalline silicon substrates exhibit vibrant, highly controllable reflective structural coloration. Unlike structures with uniform sidewall profiles, the hourglass profile defines two separate regions on the pillar: a head and a body. The head acts as a suspended Mie resonator and is responsible for resonant reflectance, while the body acts to suppress broadband reflections from the surface. The combination of these effects gives rise to vibrant colors. The size of the nanopillars can be tuned to provide a variety of additive colors, including the RGB primaries. Experimental results are shown for nanopillar arrays fabricated using nanoimprint lithography and plasma etching. A finite difference time domain (FDTD) model is validated against these results and is used to elucidate the electromagnetic response of the nanopillars. Furthermore, a COMSOL model is used to investigate the angle dependence of the reflectance. In view of display applications, a genetic algorithm is used to optimize the nanopillar geometries for RGB color reflective pixels, showing that nearly all of the sRGB color space and most of the Adobe RGB color space can be covered with this technique.
ABSTRACT
Optical analog signal processing has been gaining significant attention as a way to overcome the speed and energy limitations of digital techniques. Metasurfaces offer a promising avenue towards this goal due to their efficient manipulation of optical signals over deeply subwavelength volumes. To date, metasurfaces have been proposed to transform signals in the spatial domain, e.g., for beam steering, focusing, or holography, for which angular-dependent responses, or nonlocality, are unwanted features that must be avoided or mitigated. Here, we show that the metasurface nonlocality can be engineered to enable signal manipulation in the momentum domain over an ultrathin platform. We explore nonlocal metasurfaces performing basic mathematical operations, paving the way towards fast and power-efficient ultrathin devices for edge detection and optical image processing.
ABSTRACT
In this work, we experimentally demonstrate metasurface-enhanced photoresponse in organic photodetectors. We have designed and integrated a metasurface with broadband functionality into an organic photodetector, with the goal of significantly increasing the absorption of light and generated photocurrent from 560 up to 690 nm. We discuss how the metasurface can be integrated with the fabrication of an organic photodiode. Our results show large gains in responsivity from 1.5× to 2× between 560 and 690 nm.
