Newswise — Imagine being able to manipulate light with ultrathin, flat layers instead of bulky lenses and mirrors. That’s the promise of metasurfaces, a revolutionary nanostructure technology that can twist and bend light in ways never before seen.

Metasurfaces are artificially created surfaces composed of carefully designed nanostructures, each smaller than the wavelength of light. By controlling the geometry and arrangement of these tiny structures, scientists can create metasurfaces that precisely control the amplitude, phase, and polarization of light waves at the two-dimensional interface. This unprecedented control over the properties of light opens up a wide range of potential applications previously unattainable with conventional optics.

Traditional optical components such as lenses and prisms use bulky structures and precise curvatures to manipulate light. Metasurfaces, on the other hand, achieve similar optical performance at a fraction of the size and complexity. They offer a flat, ultra-thin and lightweight alternative, paving the way for more compact and integrated devices.

The potential applications of metasurfaces span many areas, including beam steering and focusing, holography and 3D imaging, polarization control and analysis, exotic light beam generation, biomedical imaging and sensing, and optical camouflage.

Although metasurfaces offer enormous potential, their fabrication and integration still pose challenges. Manufacturing them on a large scale with high precision and low cost is a hurdle that still needs to be overcome. In addition, to fully exploit their miniaturization potential, the dependence on bulky components in current metasurface devices must be overcome.

Researchers around the world are actively addressing these challenges and exploring innovative nanofabrication techniques and integration strategies. The future of metasurfaces promises a world where light is harnessed and manipulated with unprecedented control, leading to groundbreaking advances in optics, communications, sensing, imaging, and beyond. Stay tuned for the next chapter of this exciting technological journey!

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References

DOI

10.37188/lam.2024.005

Original source URL

https://www.light-am.com/en/article/doi/10.37188/lam.2024.005

Funding information

This work was supported by the University Grants Committee / Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. AoE/P-502/20, CRF Project: C1015-21E; C5031-22G; and GRF Project: CityU15303521; CityU11305223; CityU11310522; CityU11300123), the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province (Project No. 2020B1515120073), the City University of Hong Kong (Project Nos. 9380131, 9610628, and 7005867), the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2021YFA1400802), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 62125501 and 6233000076), Basic Research Fund for Central Universities (Grant No. 2022FRRK030004) and Shenzhen Basic Research Projects (Grant No. JCYJ20220818102218040).

To Light: Advanced manufacturing (LAM)

Light: Advanced manufacturing ((LAM) is a new, highly selective, open access and free international sister journal of the Nature Journal Light: Science & Applications. The journal aims to publish innovative research results in all modern areas of preferred light-based manufacturing, including basic and applied research as well as industrial innovations.