Object identification and three-dimensional reconstruction techniques are always attractive research interests in machine vision, virtual reality, augmented reality, and biomedical engineering. Optical computing metasurface, as a two-dimensional artificial design component, has displayed the supernormal character of controlling phase, amplitude, polarization, and frequency distributions of the light beam, capable of performing mathematical operations on the input light field. Here, we propose and demonstrate an all-optical object identification technique based on optical computing metasurface, and apply it to 3D reconstruction. Unlike traditional mechanisms, this scheme reduces memory consumption in the processing of the contour surface extraction. The identification and reconstruction of experimental results from high-contrast and low-contrast objects agree well with the real objects. The exploration of the all-optical object identification and 3D reconstruction techniques provides potential applications of high efficiencies, low consumption, and compact systems.

We show that weak measurements can be used to measure the tiny signature of topological phase transitions. The signature is an in-plane photonic spin Hall effect, which can be described as a consequence of a Berry phase. It is also parallel to the propagation direction of a light beam. The imaginary part of the weak value can be used to analyze ultrasmall longitudinal phase shifts in different topological phases. These optical signatures are related to the Chern number and bandgaps; we also use a preselection and postselection technique on the spin state to enhance the original signature. The weak amplification technique offers a potential way to determine the spin and valley properties of charge carriers, Chern numbers, and topological phases by direct optical measurement.

We examine the spin-orbit interaction of light and photonic spin Hall effect on the surface of anisotropic two-dimensional atomic crystals. As an example, the photonic spin Hall effect on the surface of black phosphorus is investigated. The photonic spin Hall effect manifests itself as the spin-dependent beam shifts in both transverse and in-plane directions. We demonstrate that the spin-dependent shifts are sensitive to the orientation of the optical axis, doping concentration, and interband transitions. These results can be extensively extended to other anisotropic two-dimensional atomic crystals. By incorporating the quantum weak measurement techniques, the photonic spin Hall effect holds great promise for detecting the parameters of anisotropic two-dimensional atomic crystals.

The polarization evolution of vector beams (VBs) generated by q-plates is investigated theoretically and experimentally. An analytical model is developed for the VB created by a general quarter-wave q-plate based on vector diffraction theory. It is found that the polarization distribution of VBs varies with position and the value q. In particular, for the incidence of circular polarization, the exit vector vortex beam has polarization states that cover the whole surface of the Poincaré sphere, thereby constituting a full Poincaré beam. For the incidence of linear polarization, the VB is not cylindrical but specularly symmetric, and exhibits an azimuthal spin splitting. These results are in sharp contrast with those derived by the commonly used model, i.e., regarding the incident light as a plane wave. By implementing q-plates with dielectric metasurfaces, further experiments validate the theoretical results.

In this paper, we examine the tiny polarization rotation effect in total internal reflection due to the spin–orbit interaction of light. We find that the tiny polarization rotation rate will induce a geometric phase gradient, which can be regarded as the physical origin of photonic spin Hall effect. We demonstrate that the spin-dependent splitting in position space is related to the polarization rotation in momentum space, while the spin-dependent splitting in momentum space is attributed to the polarization rotation in position space. Furthermore, we introduce a quantum weak measurement to determine the tiny polarization rotation rate. The rotation rate in momentum space is obtained with 118 nm, which manifests itself as a spatial shift, and the rotation rate in position space is achieved with 38 μrad/λ, which manifests itself as an angular shift. The investigation of the polarization rotation characteristics will provide insights into the photonic spin Hall effect and will enable us to better understand the spin–orbit interaction of light.

We propose theoretically and verify experimentally a method of combining a q-plate and a spiral phase plate to generate arbitrary vector vortex beams on a hybrid-order Poincaré sphere. We demonstrate that a vector vortex beam can be decomposed into a vector beam and a vortex, whereby the generation can be realized by sequentially using a q-plate and a spiral phase plate. The generated vector beam, vortex, and vector vortex beam are verified and show good agreement with the prediction. Another advantage that should be pointed out is that the spiral phase plate and q-plate are both fabricated on silica substrates, suggesting the potential possibility to integrate the two structures on a single plate. Based on a compact method of transmissive-type transformation, our scheme may have potential applications in future integrated optical devices.