All‐Silicon Broadband Ultraviolet Metasurfaces

Featuring high photon energy and short wavelength, ultraviolet (UV) light enables numerous applications such as high‐resolution imaging, photolithography, and sensing. In order to manipulate UV light, bulky optics are usually required, and hence do not meet the fast‐growing requirements of integration in compact systems. Recently, metasurfaces have shown unprecedented control of light, enabling substantial miniaturization of photonic devices from terahertz to visible regions. However, material challenges have hampered the realization of such functionalities at shorter wavelengths. Herein, it is experimentally demonstrated that all‐silicon (Si) metasurfaces with thicknesses of only one‐tenth of the working wavelength can be designed and fabricated to manipulate broadband UV light with efficiencies comparable to plasmonic metasurface performance in infrared (IR). Also, for the first time, photolithography enabled by metasurface‐generated UV holograms is shown. Such performance enhancement is attributed to increased scattering cross sections of Si antennas in the UV range, which is adequately modeled via a circuit. The new platform introduced here will deepen the understanding of light–matter interactions and introduce even more material options to broadband metaphotonic applications, including those in integrated photonics and holographic lithography technologies.     

Planar Diffractive Lenses: Fundamentals,Functionalities, and Applications

Traditional objective lenses in modern microscopy, based on the refraction of light, are restricted by the Rayleigh diffraction limit. The existing methods to overcome this limit can be categorized into near‐field (e.g., scanning near‐field optical microscopy, superlens, microsphere lens) and far‐field (e.g., stimulated emission depletion microscopy, photoactivated localization microscopy, stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy) approaches. However, they either operate in the challenging near‐field mode or there is the need to label samples in biology. Recently, through manipulation of the diffraction of light with binary masks or gradient metasurfaces, some miniaturized and planar lenses have been reported with intriguing functionalities such as ultrahigh numerical aperture, large depth of focus, and subdiffraction‐limit focusing in far‐field, which provides a viable solution for the label‐free superresolution imaging. Here, the recent advances in planar diffractive lenses (PDLs) are reviewed from a united theoretical account on diffraction‐based focusing optics, and the underlying physics of nanofocusing via constructive or destructive interference is revealed. Various approaches of realizing PDLs are introduced in terms of their unique performances and interpreted by using optical aberration theory. Furthermore, a detailed tutorial about applying these planar lenses in nanoimaging is provided, followed by an outlook regarding future development toward practical applications.     

Ultrathin Single Layer Metasurfaces with Ultra-Wideband Operation for Both Transmission and Reflection

Artificially engineered metasurfaces provide extraordinary wave control at the subwavelength scale. However, metasurfaces proposed so far suffer due to limited bandwidths. In this paper, extremely thin metasurfaces made of single metallic layer is experimentally presented for ultra-wideband operation from 9.3 to 32.5 GHz (with a fractional band of 112%), working at both transmission and reflection modes simultaneously. The phase control is achieved by azimuthally rotating the scatterer based on Pancharatnam–Berry phase principle. Nearly uniform efficiency (≈25%), approaching the theoretical limit of the infinitely thin metasurface, is achieved throughout the operation band. Finally, the proposed design is implemented for applications, e.g., the generation of electromagnetic waves carrying orbital angular momentums as well as anomalous reflections and refractions. The metasurfaces are characterized numerically and experimentally and the results are in good agreements.     

Ultrathin planar broadband absorber through effective medium design

Ultrathin planar absorbers hold promise in solar energy systems because they can reduce the material,fabrication,and system cost.Here,we present a general strategy of effective medium design to realize ultrathin planar broadband absorbers.The absorber consists of two ultrathin absorbing dielectrics to designan effective absorbing medium,a transparent layer,and metallic substrate.Compared with previous studies,this strategy provides another dimension of freedom to enhance optical absorption;therefore,destructive interference can be realized over a broad spectrum.To demonstrate the power and simplicity of this strategy,we both experimentally and theoretically characterized an absorber with 5-nm-thick Ge,10-nm-thick Ti,and 50-nm-thick SiO2 films coated on an Ag substrate fabricated using simple deposition methods.Absorptivity higher than 80％ was achieved in 15-nm-thick (1/50 of the center wavelength) Ge and Ti films from 400 nm to near 1 μm.As an application example,we experimentally demonstrated that the absorber exhibited a normal solar absorptivity of 0.8 with a normal emittance of 0.1 at 500 ℃,thus demonstrating its potential in solar thermal systems.The effective medium design strategy is general and allows material versatility,suggesting possible applications in real-time optical manipulation using dynamic materials.     

Spatiotemporal Dielectric Metasurfaces for Unidirectional Propagation and Reconfigurable Steering of Terahertz Beams

Next-generation devices for low-latency and seamless communication are envisioned to revolutionize information processing, which would directly impact human lives, technologies, and societies. The ever-increasing demand for wireless data traffic can be fulfilled by the terahertz band, which has received tremendous attention as the final frontier of the radio spectrum. However, attenuation due to atmospheric humidity and free-space path loss significantly limits terahertz signal propagation. High-gain antennas with directional radiation and reconfigurable beam steering are indispensable for loss compensation and terahertz signal processing, which are associated with spatial and temporal dimensions, respectively. Here, experimental demonstration of a spatiotemporal dielectric metasurface for unidirectional propagation and ultrafast spatial beam steering of terahertz waves is shown. The spatial dimension of the metasurface provides a solution to eliminate backscattering of collimated unidirectional propagation of the terahertz wave with steerable directionality. Temporal modulation of the spatial optical properties enables ultrafast reconfigurable beam steering. Silicon-based spatiotemporal devices amalgamate the rich physics of metasurfaces and technologies that are promising for overcoming the bottlenecks of future terahertz communication, such as high-speed and secure wireless data transmission, beamforming and ultrafast data processing.     

Embedded Metal Oxide Plasmonics Using Local Plasma Oxidation of AZO for Planar Metasurfaces

New methods for achieving high-quality conducting oxide metasurfaces are of great importance for a range of emerging applications from infrared thermal control coatings to epsilon-near-zero nonlinear optics. This work demonstrates the viability of plasma patterning as a technique to selectively and locally modulate the carrier density in planar Al-doped ZnO (AZO) metasurfaces without any associated topographical surface profile. This technique stands in strong contrast to conventional physical patterning which results in nonplanar textured surfaces. The approach can open up a new route to form novel photonic devices with planar metasurfaces, for example, antireflective coatings and multi-layer devices. To demonstrate the performance of the carrier-modulated AZO metasurfaces, two types of devices are realized using the demonstrated plasma patterning. A metasurface optical solar reflector is shown to produce infrared emissivity equivalent to a conventional etched design. Second, a multiband metasurface is achieved by integrating a Au visible-range metasurface on top of the planar AZO infrared metasurface. Independent control of spectral bands without significant cross-talk between infrared and visible functionalities is achieved. Local carrier tuning of conducting oxide films offers a conceptually new approach for oxide-based photonics and nanoelectronics and opens up new routes for integrated planar metasurfaces in optical technology.     

位相型自聚焦微分滤波器

介绍一种用二元光学方法制作的光学图象微分滤波器，它是由两个频率相近的位相型Ｒｏｎｃｈｉ光栅和离轴型位相菲涅耳波带片的组合而成的。称之为位相型自聚焦滤波器。它具有衍射效率高，光路简单，使用方便等特点。     

Three-dimensional structured on-chip stacked zone plates for nanoscale X-ray imaging with high efficiency

Fresnel zone plates are the key optical elements for nanoscale focusing of X-ray beams with high spatial resolution. Conventional zone plates manufactured by planar nanotechnology processes are limited by the achievable aspect ratios of their zone structures. Additionally, ultra-high resolution X-ray optics with high efficiency requires three-dimensional （3-D） shaped tilted zones. The combination of high spatial resolution and high diffraction efficiency is a fundamental problem in X-ray optics. Based on electrodynamical simulations, we find that the optimized zone plate profile for volume diffraction is given by zone structures with radially increasing tilt angles and decreasing zone heights. On-chip stacking permits the realization of such advanced 3-D profiles without significant loss of the maximum theoretical efficiency. We developed triple layer on-chip stacked zone plates with an overlay accuracy of sub-2 nm which fulfills the nanofabrication requirements. Efficiency measurements of on-chip stacked zone plates show significantly increased values compared to conventional zone plates.     

固定边界超临界轴向运动梁平面振动频率

通过数值方法研究超临界速度下,两端固定边界的轴向运动梁平面耦合非线性振动固有频率。发展有限差分法,确定在超临界范围轴向运动梁的径向与横向耦合平面内非平凡静平衡位形。基于非平凡静平衡位形,经坐标变换,建立超临界轴向运动梁连续陀螺系统的标准控制方程。运用高阶Galerkin截断,研究超临界运动状态下梁平面振动的固有频率;并研究Galerkin截断阶数对计算结果的影响。