Creating perfect composite vortex beams with a single all-dielectric geometric metasurface

Flexible terahertz phase shifter for optically controlled polydimethylsiloxane-vanadium dioxide composite film

In the terahertz (THz) band, modulation research has become a focal point, with precise control of the phase shift of THz waves playing a pivotal role. In this study, we investigate the optical control of THz phase shift modulation in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-vanadium dioxide (VO2) flexible material using THz time-domain spectroscopy. Under the influence of an 808-nm continuous wave (CW) laser with power densities ranging from 0 to 2.74 W/cm2, the PDMS-VO2 flexible material exhibits significant phase shift modulation in the frequency range of 0.2 to 1.0 THz. The maximum optical-pumping phase shift reaches 0.27π rad at 1.0 THz in a composite material with a VO2 mass fraction of 5% and a thickness of 360 µm, and the amplitude transmittance from 0.2 THz to 1.0 THz exceeds 70%. Furthermore, the composite material exhibits good stability under at least 640 switching cycle times, as confirmed through repeatability tests. The proposed composite devices offer a new approach for more flexible phase shift modulation owing to the flexibility of the composite material and the non-contact and precise modulation of light control. Additionally, the stress-adjustable characteristics of flexible materials make them highly suitable for use in wearable THz modulators, highlighting their significant application potential.

All-dielectric geometric metasurfaces for the generation and manipulation of perfect high-order Poincaré sphere beams

A high-order Poincaré sphere (HOPS) can be used to describe high-order modes of waveguides and vector beams, since it generalizes the feature of spin and the orbital angular momentum of light. HOPS beams are such beams with polarization states on the HOPS, which have potential applications in optical manipulation and optical communication. In general, the intensity distribution of this kind of beam changes with the topological charge, which limits their practical applications. Based on the concept of perfect vortex beams (PVBs), perfect HOPS beams have been proposed to solve this problem. Here, a flexible and compact scheme based on all-dielectric metasurfaces for realizing and manipulating perfect HOPS beams at near-infrared wavelength was demonstrated. Geometric-phase-only manipulation was employed for simultaneously controlling the phase and polarization of the incident light. By varying the incident polarization, several selected polarization states on the HOPS could be realized by the proposed metasurface. Further, the single ultra-thin metasurface can also realize high quality multiplexing perfect HOPS beams that carry different topological charges. Finally, a cascaded metasurface system has been proposed for generating and manipulating multiple HOPS beams. This compact flat-optics-based scheme for perfect HOPS beam generation and manipulation demonstrated here can be used for on-chip optical manipulation and integrated optical communication in the future.

GaN vortex metasurface for interference and broadband characteristics

We experimentally demonstrate a highly efficient metasurface-based optical vortex beam (OVB) composed of high-aspect-ratio gallium nitride (GaN) meta-structures with an exceptional simulated absolute polarization conversion efficiency (APCE) of up to 98%. A flower-like interference pattern emerges at the converging distance of the device with the helicity switching in spiral and dislocation interference patterns beyond this point, as confirmed through meticulous Mach-Zehnder interferometer analysis. The device also performs broadband capabilities across visible wavelengths. Experimentally demonstrated, the annular shape adeptly expands its diameter with increasing incident wavelengths. This phenomenon is rooted in the fascinating anomalous refractive and reflective characteristics inherent to subwavelength-period metasurfaces.

Efficient dynamic tunable metasurface based on Ge2Sb2Te5 in the near infrared band

For effective wavefront management in the optical infrared range, dynamic all-dielectric metasurfaces, always based on phase transition materials, particularly G e 2 S b 2 T e 5 (GST), can be used. In this paper, we propose a GST-based tunable metasurface by structuring the phase-change material GST. We confirm that the nanopillar we designed has high transmittance in the wavelength band around 1550 nm and can fully cover the 0∼2π phase. Based on these characteristics, we can achieve beam steering and a focusing effect in amorphous phase by elaborately arranging GST nanopillars, while the aforementioned optical phenomena disappear in crystalline phase. Additionally, by arranging the array of vortex phases, we also realize switching the perfect composite vortex beam (PCVB) when changing the crystal state of GST, and simulate the generation of PCVB with different topological charges and sizes in amorphous phase. We believe that our research results can serve as a reference for multifunctional optical surfaces, dynamic optical control, optical communication, and information processing.

Generation and measurement of irregular polygonal perfect vortex optical beam based on all-dielectric geometric metasurface

The perfect optical vortex (POV) beam carrying orbital angular momentum with topological charge-independent radial intensity distribution possesses ubiquitous applications in optical communication, particle manipulation, and quantum optics. But the mode distribution of conventional POV beam is relatively single, limiting the modulation of the particles. Here, we originally introduce the high-order cross-phase (HOCP) and ellipticity γ into the POV beam and construct all-dielectric geometric metasurfaces to generate irregular polygonal perfect optical vortex (IPPOV) beams following the trend of miniaturization and integration of optical systems. By controlling the order of the HOCP, conversion rate u, and ellipticity factor γ, various shapes of IPPOV beams with different electric field intensity distributions can be realized. In addition, we analyze the propagation characteristics of IPPOV beams in free-space, and the number and rotation direction of bright spots at the focal plane give the magnitude and sign of the topological charge carried by the beam. The method does not require cumbersome devices or complex calculation process, and provides a simple and effective method for simultaneous polygon shaping and topological charge measurement. This work further improves the beam manipulation ability while maintaining the characteristics of the POV beam, enriches the mode distribution of the POV beam, and provides more possibilities for particle manipulation.

Metasurface-based perfect vortex beams with trigonometric-function topological charge for OAM manipulation

Topological charge (TC) is generally acknowledged as an important attribute of an optical vortex (OV), which indicates the twisted characterization of the wavefront. In most circumstances, the TC remains constant as an integer or fraction along the azimuthal direction. Herein, by transforming the TCs into the trigonometric functions of the azimuthal angle to tailor the spiral phase distributions, we numerically demonstrate generating perfect vortex beams (PVBs) with sine-function TC based on the all-dielectric geometric metasurfaces, whose unit structure is optimized to an ideal half-wave plate. To seek the intrinsic advancements of the proposed PVBs, their orbital angular momentum (OAM) as well as optical gradient force distributions are calculated for diverse particle manipulation. We believe our proposed scheme is desired to provide an original thought for OAM manipulation, information storage, and optical communication.

Creating perfect composite vortex beams with a single all-dielectric geometric metasurface: erratum

Erratum to "Creating perfect composite vortex beams with a single all-dielectric geometric metasurface." [Opt. Express30, 40231 (2022)10.1364/OE.475158]. Here are some mistakes in the paper, which needs to be revised.