Modern imaging systems can be enhanced in efficiency, compactness, and range of applications through introduction of multilayer nanopatterned structures for manipulation of light based on its fundamental properties. High transmission efficiency multispectral imaging is surprisingly elusive due to the use of absorptive or reflective filter arrays which discard most of the incident light. Further, most cameras in use today do not leverage the wealth of information in the polarization and spatial degrees of freedom. Metaoptical components can be tailored to respond to these varying electromagnetic properties, but have been mostly explored in single-layer, ultrathin geometries, which limits their capacity for multifunctional behavior. Here we show the design of several pixel-sized scattering structures which sort light efficiently based on its wavelength, polarization state, and spatial mode.
Developing approaches to power efficient and high-throughput computing is critical for meeting ever-growing computational requirements. There is significant interest in using optics to perform computational tasks such as performing image processing tasks in analog, eliminating the need for computational resources. In this work, we demonstrate inverse-designed meta-optics capable of isotropic 2D edge-detection with large numerical apertures. To highlight the versatility afforded by the optimization-based approach, we design a multifunctional device that performs a variety of processing tasks based on polarization, wavelength, and diffraction order. These devices can be used in novel computer vision and computational imaging applications.
Modern imaging systems can be enhanced in efficiency, compactness, and range of applications through introduction of multilayer nanopatterned structures for manipulation of light based on its fundamental properties. Metaoptical components can be tailored to respond to these varying electromagnetic properties, but have been mostly explored in single-layer, ultrathin geometries, which limits their capacity for multifunctional behavior. Here we show the design of several pixel-sized scattering structures which sort light efficiently based on its wavelength, polarization state, and spatial mode. The multispectral and polarimetry devices are further fabricated via two-photon lithography and experimentally validated in the mid-infrared.
Modern imaging systems can be enhanced in efficiency, compactness, and range of applications through introduction of multilayer nanopatterned structures for manipulation of light based on its fundamental properties. Metaoptical components can be tailored to respond to these varying electromagnetic properties, but have been mostly explored in single-layer, ultrathin geometries, which limits their capacity for multifunctional behavior. Here we show the design of scattering structures which sort light efficiently based on its wavelength, polarization state, and spatial mode. The multispectral and polarimetry devices are further fabricated via two-photon lithography and experimentally validated in the mid-infrared.
The ideal imaging system would efficiently capture information about all fundamental properties light: intensity, direction, wavelength, and polarization. Most common imaging systems only map the spatial degrees of freedom of light onto a two-dimensional image sensor, with some wavelength and/or polarization discrimination added at the expense of efficiency. Thus, one of the most intriguing problems in optics is how to group and classify multiple degrees of freedom and map them on the two-dimensional sensor space. Here we demonstrate that volumetric meta-optics elements consisting of a highly scattering, inverse-designed medium structured with subwavelength resolution can sort light simultaneously based on direction, wavelength and polarization, by mapping these properties to a distinct combination of pixels on the image sensor for compressed sensing applications, including wavefront sensing, beam profiling, and next-generation plenoptic sensors.
Three-dimensional elements, with refractive index distribution structured at subwavelength scale, provide an expansive optical design space that can be harnessed for demonstrating multifunctional free-space optical devices. We present three dimensional dielectric elements, designed to be placed on top of the pixels of image sensors that provide different functionalities like sorting and focusing of light based on its color, polarization and incidence angle. The devices are designed via iterative gradient-based optimization to account for multiple target functions while ensuring compatibility with existing nanofabrication processes. This approach combines arbitrary functions into a single compact element, even where there is no known equivalent in bulk optics, enabling novel integrated photonic applications. We analyze how the device behaves for input parameters that it was not designed for and investigate how the arrangement of the imaging pixels affects the device performance.
Three-dimensional elements, with refractive index distribution structured at subwavelength scale, provide an expansive optical design space that can be harnessed for demonstrating multifunctional free-space optical devices. We present three dimensional dielectric elements, designed to be placed on top of the pixels of image sensors that provide different functionalities like sorting and focusing of light based on its color and polarization with efficiency significantly surpassing two dimensional absorptive and diffractive filters, and ultra-compact polarimetry. The devices are designed via iterative gradient-based optimization to account for multiple target functions while ensuring compatibility with existing nanofabrication processes, and they are experimentally validated using a scaled device that operates at microwave frequencies. This approach combines arbitrary functions into a single compact element, even where there is no known equivalent in bulk optics, enabling novel integrate
Inverse design has opened up the possibility of achieving high photonic device performances over broad spectral ranges. Recently, we have applied this technique to broadband polarization splitting. By sorting an input polarization state of light into four analyzer directions, the projection onto each of which is focused to a different detector element, we design a device that can reconstruct the polarization state. This concept has been shown with metasurfaces, but over a limited bandwidth. We show simulation results for a wide bandwidth device that efficiently sorts along four polarization directions, achieving high transmission and large contrast between the different states.
Three-dimensional metastructures are capable of surpassing planar metasurfaces in performance and range of functionality. Design of 3D devices is less intuitive than 2D metasurfaces, but is tractable with the help of inverse-design techniques. This talk will discuss the difficulties with employing gradient-based inverse optimization on high index-contrast devices, and will present innovative solutions to address this. The design methodology is applied to submillimeter-wave antenna design fabricated entirely with etched Silicon. This talk may be interesting to those interested in electromagnetic design for any frequency band, and the targeted application may be interesting to the terahertz astrophysics community.
With modern nanofabrication technology, researchers and companies can reliably produce 3-dimensional patterns with feature sizes much smaller than the wavelength of visible light. The ability to do this in a scalable fashion brings nanophotonic research into the realm of commercial technology. For example, metasurfaces achieve high optical performance in fractions of the thickness of traditional bulky optical components and can be designed for unique, custom functionalities. By expanding the design space beyond the metasurface regime and allowing for photonic designs in full three dimensions, we can further increase the degrees of freedom at our disposal. This new design space is complex and inherently involves multiply scattering structures. In order to efficiently search for good solutions, we use an inverse design procedure based on the adjoint variable method. Taking advantage of this large design space, we can computationally optimize multi-functional meta-optical devices that achieve novel functionalities in minimal footprints. We demonstrate wavelength splitting photonic filters with application to color filter arrays on modern-day image sensors. These filters are designed to replace absorbing filters and instead re-route colors to specific sensor locations, thus recovering previously lost transmission. We show that these devices work with a variety of realistic fabrication restrictions and demonstrate their abilities experimentally in the microwave regime where we can realize layered devices via simple techniques like 3D printing. Finally, we comment on potential future applications and avenues where inverse design can help solve inherently difficult engineering challenges in nanophotonics.
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