Design of broadband and wide-field-of-view metalenses.

In this Letter, we adapt the direct search method to metasurface optimization. We show that the direct search algorithm, when coupled with deep learning techniques for free-form meta-atom generation, offers a computationally efficient optimization approach for metasurface optics. As an example, we apply the approach to optimization of achromatic metalenses. Taking advantage of the diverse dispersion responses of free-form meta-atoms, metalenses designed using this approach exhibit superior broadband performances compared to their multilevel diffractive counterparts. We further demonstrate an achromatic and wide-field-of-view metalens design.

A Transferrable, Adaptable, Free-Standing, and Water-Resistant Hyperbolic Metamaterial.

Hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) have attracted significant attention due to the profound manipulation of the photonic density of states, resulting in the efficient optoelectronic devices with the enhanced light-matter interaction. HMMs are conventionally built on rigid large-size substrates with poor conformability and the absence of flexibility. Here, we demonstrate a grating collageable HMM (GCHMM), which is composed of eight alternating layers of Au and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and PMMA grating nanostructure containing quantum dots (QDs). The QDs serve as a scattering gain medium performing a random laser action, and the grating nanostructure enhances the extraction of light from QDs. The GCHMM enhances laser action by 13 times, reduces lasing threshold by 46%, and increases differential quantum efficiency by 1.8 times as compared to a planar collageable HMM. In addition, the GCHMM can be retransferred multiple times to other substrates as well as provide sufficient protection in water and still retain an excellent performance. It also shows stable functionality even when transferred to a dental floss. The GCHMM, therefore, promises to become a versatile platform for foldable, adaptable, free-standing, and water-resistant optoelectronic device applications.

Large-area optical metasurface fabrication using nanostencil lithography.

We demonstrate a large-area fabrication process for optical metasurfaces utilizing reusable SiN on Si nanostencils. To improve the yield of the nanostencil fabrication, we partially etch the front-side SiN layer to transfer the metasurface pattern from the resist to the nanostencil membrane, preserving the integrity of the membrane during the subsequent potassium hydroxide etch. To enhance the reliability and resolution of metasurface fabrication using the nanostencil, we spin coat a sacrificial layer of resist to precisely determine the gap between the nanostencil and the metasurface substrate for the subsequent liftoff. 1.5 mm diameter PbTe meta-lenses on ${\rm{Ca}}{{\rm{F}}_2}$ fabricated using nanostencils show diffraction-limited focusing and focusing efficiencies of 42% for a 2 mm focal length lens and 53% for a 4 mm focal length lens. The nanostencils can also be cleaned using chemical cleaning methods for reuse.

Electrically reconfigurable non-volatile metasurface using low-loss optical phase-change material.

Active metasurfaces promise reconfigurable optics with drastically improved compactness, ruggedness, manufacturability and functionality compared to their traditional bulk counterparts. Optical phase-change materials (PCMs) offer an appealing material solution for active metasurface devices with their large index contrast and non-volatile switching characteristics. Here we report a large-scale, electrically reconfigurable non-volatile metasurface platform based on optical PCMs. The optical PCM alloy used in the devices, Ge2Sb2Se4Te (GSST), uniquely combines giant non-volatile index modulation capability, broadband low optical loss and a large reversible switching volume, enabling notably enhanced light-matter interactions within the active optical PCM medium. Capitalizing on these favourable attributes, we demonstrated quasi-continuously tuneable active metasurfaces with record half-octave spectral tuning range and large optical contrast of over 400%. We further prototyped a polarization-insensitive phase-gradient metasurface to realize dynamic optical beam steering.

Reconfigurable all-dielectric metalens with diffraction-limited performance.

Active metasurfaces, whose optical properties can be modulated post-fabrication, have emerged as an intensively explored field in recent years. The efforts to date, however, still face major performance limitations in tuning range, optical quality, and efficiency, especially for non-mechanical actuation mechanisms. In this paper, we introduce an active metasurface platform combining phase tuning in the full 2π range and diffraction-limited performance using an all-dielectric, low-loss architecture based on optical phase change materials (O-PCMs). We present a generic design principle enabling binary switching of metasurfaces between arbitrary phase profiles and propose a new figure-of-merit (FOM) tailored for reconfigurable meta-optics. We implement the approach to realize a high-performance varifocal metalens operating at 5.2 µm wavelength. The reconfigurable metalens features a record large switching contrast ratio of 29.5 dB. We further validate aberration-free and multi-depth imaging using the metalens, which represents a key experimental demonstration of a non-mechanical tunable metalens with diffraction-limited performance.

Deep learning modeling approach for metasurfaces with high degrees of freedom.

Metasurfaces have shown promising potentials in shaping optical wavefronts while remaining compact compared to bulky geometric optics devices. The design of meta-atoms, the fundamental building blocks of metasurfaces, typically relies on trial and error to achieve target electromagnetic responses. This process includes the characterization of an enormous amount of meta-atom designs with varying physical and geometric parameters, which demands huge computational resources. In this paper, a deep learning-based metasurface/meta-atom modeling approach is introduced to significantly reduce the characterization time while maintaining accuracy. Based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) structure, the proposed deep learning network is able to model meta-atoms with nearly freeform 2D patterns and different lattice sizes, material refractive indices and thicknesses. Moreover, the presented approach features the capability of predicting a meta-atom's wide spectrum response in the timescale of milliseconds, attractive for applications necessitating fast on-demand design and optimization of a meta-atom/metasurface.

Single-Element Diffraction-Limited Fisheye Metalens.

Wide field-of-view (FOV) optical functionality is crucial for implementation of advanced imaging and image projection devices. Conventionally, wide FOV operation is attained with complicated assembly of multiple optical elements known as "fisheye lenses". Here we present a novel metalens design capable of performing diffraction-limited focusing and imaging over an unprecedented near 180° angular FOV. The lens is monolithically integrated on a one-piece flat substrate and involves only a single layer of metasurface that corrects third-order Seidel aberrations including coma, astigmatism, and field curvature. The metalens further features a planar focal surface, which enables considerably simplified system architectures for applications in imaging and projection. We fabricated the metalens using Huygens meta-atoms operating at 5.2 µm wavelength and experimentally demonstrated aberration-free focusing and imaging over the entire FOV. The design concept is generic and can be readily adapted to different meta-atom geometries and wavelength ranges to meet diverse application demands.

Broadband transparent optical phase change materials for high-performance nonvolatile photonics.

Optical phase change materials (O-PCMs), a unique group of materials featuring exceptional optical property contrast upon a solid-state phase transition, have found widespread adoption in photonic applications such as switches, routers and reconfigurable meta-optics. Current O-PCMs, such as Ge-Sb-Te (GST), exhibit large contrast of both refractive index (Δn) and optical loss (Δk), simultaneously. The coupling of both optical properties fundamentally limits the performance of many applications. Here we introduce a new class of O-PCMs based on Ge-Sb-Se-Te (GSST) which breaks this traditional coupling. The optimized alloy, Ge2Sb2Se4Te1, combines broadband transparency (1-18.5 µm), large optical contrast (Δn = 2.0), and significantly improved glass forming ability, enabling an entirely new range of infrared and thermal photonic devices. We further demonstrate nonvolatile integrated optical switches with record low loss and large contrast ratio and an electrically-addressed spatial light modulator pixel, thereby validating its promise as a material for scalable nonvolatile photonics.

Ultrabright Room-Temperature Sub-Nanosecond Emission from Single Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers Coupled to Nanopatch Antennas.

Solid-state quantum emitters are in high demand for emerging technologies such as advanced sensing and quantum information processing. Generally, these emitters are not sufficiently bright for practical applications, and a promising solution consists in coupling them to plasmonic nanostructures. Plasmonic nanostructures support broadband modes, making it possible to speed up the fluorescence emission in room-temperature emitters by several orders of magnitude. However, one has not yet achieved such a fluorescence lifetime shortening without a substantial loss in emission efficiency, largely because of strong absorption in metals and emitter bleaching. Here, we demonstrate ultrabright single-photon emission from photostable nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in nanodiamonds coupled to plasmonic nanocavities made of low-loss single-crystalline silver. We observe a 70-fold difference between the average fluorescence lifetimes and a 90-fold increase in the average detected saturated intensity. The nanocavity-coupled NVs produce up to 35 million photon counts per second, several times more than the previously reported rates from room-temperature quantum emitters.

Author Correction: Ultra-thin high-efficiency mid-infraredtransmissive Huygens meta-optics.

The original version of this Article omitted the following from the Acknowledgements:'J.D. and H. Zhang acknowledge initial funding for design of the meta-atoms provided by the National Science Foundation under award CMMI-1266251. Z.L. and H. Zheng contributed to the Device Fabrication section and were independently funded as visiting scholars by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under award 51772042 and the "111" project (No. B13042) led by Professor Huaiwu Zhang. Later work contained within the Device Modeling and Device Characterization sections and some revisions to the manuscript were funded under Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Defense Sciences Office (DSO) Program: EXTREME Optics and Imaging (EXTREME) under Agreement No. HR00111720029. The authors also acknowledge fabrication facility support by the Harvard University Center for Nanoscale Systems funded by the National Science Foundation under award 0335765. The views, opinions and/or findings expressed are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official views or policies of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.' This has been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.

Ultra-thin high-efficiency mid-infrared transmissive Huygens meta-optics.

The mid-infrared (mid-IR) is a strategically important band for numerous applications ranging from night vision to biochemical sensing. Here we theoretically analyzed and experimentally realized a Huygens metasurface platform capable of fulfilling a diverse cross-section of optical functions in the mid-IR. The meta-optical elements were constructed using high-index chalcogenide films deposited on fluoride substrates: the choices of wide-band transparent materials allow the design to be scaled across a broad infrared spectrum. Capitalizing on a two-component Huygens' meta-atom design, the meta-optical devices feature an ultra-thin profile (λ0/8 in thickness) and measured optical efficiencies up to 75% in transmissive mode for linearly polarized light, representing major improvements over state-of-the-art. We have also demonstrated mid-IR transmissive meta-lenses with diffraction-limited focusing and imaging performance. The projected size, weight and power advantages, coupled with the manufacturing scalability leveraging standard microfabrication technologies, make the Huygens meta-optical devices promising for next-generation mid-IR system applications.

Long-range plasmonic waveguides with hyperbolic cladding.

We study plasmonic waveguides with dielectric cores and hyperbolic multilayer claddings. The proposed design provides better performance in terms of propagation length and mode confinement in comparison to conventional designs, such as metal-insulator-metal and insulator-metal-insulator plasmonic waveguides. We show that the proposed structures support long-range surface plasmon modes, which exist when the permittivity of the core matches the transverse effective permittivity component of the metamaterial cladding. In this regime, the surface plasmon polaritons of each cladding layer are strongly coupled, and the propagation length can be on the order of a millimeter.

Finite-width plasmonic waveguides with hyperbolic multilayer cladding.

Engineering plasmonic metamaterials with anisotropic optical dispersion enables us to tailor the properties of metamaterial-based waveguides. We investigate plasmonic waveguides with dielectric cores and multilayer metal-dielectric claddings with hyperbolic dispersion. Without using any homogenization, we calculate the resonant eigenmodes of the finite-width cladding layers, and find agreement with the resonant features in the dispersion of the cladded waveguides. We show that at the resonant widths, the propagating modes of the waveguides are coupled to the cladding eigenmodes and hence, are strongly absorbed. By avoiding the resonant widths in the design of the actual waveguides, the strong absorption can be eliminated.

Plasmonic waveguides cladded by hyperbolic metamaterials.

Strongly anisotropic media with hyperbolic dispersion can be used for claddings of plasmonic waveguides (PWs). In order to analyze the fundamental properties of such waveguides, we analytically study 1D waveguides arranged from a hyperbolic metamaterial (HMM) in a HMM-Insulator-HMM (HIH) structure. We show that HMM claddings give flexibility in designing the properties of HIH waveguides. Our comparative study on 1D PWs reveals that HIH-type waveguides can have a higher performance than MIM or IMI waveguides.

First-principles calculations of structural, elastic, electronic, and optical properties of perovskite-type KMgH3 crystals: novel hydrogen storage material.

We report a first-principles study of structural and phase stability in three different structures of perovskite-types KMgH(3) according to H position. While electronic and optical properties were measured only for stable perovskite-type KMgH(3), our calculated structural parameters are found in good agreement with experiment and other theoretical results. We also study the electronic charge density space distribution contours in the (200), (101), and (100) crystallographic planes, which gives better insight picture of chemical bonding between K-H, K-Mg-H, and Mg-H. Moreover, we have calculated the electronic band structure dispersion, total, and partial density of electron states to study the band gap origin and the contribution of s-band of H, s and p-band of Mg in the valence band, and d-band of K in the conduction band. Furthermore, optical features such as dielectric functions, refractive indices, extinction coefficient, optical reflectivity, absorption coefficients, optical conductivities, and loss functions of stable KMgH(3) were calculated for photon energies up to 40 eV.