Active metasurfaces have recently attracted more attention since they can make the light manipulation be versatile and real-time. Metasurfaces-based holography possesses the advantages of high spatial resolution and enormous information capacity for applications in optical displays and encryption. In this work, a tunable polarization multiplexing holographic metasurface controlled by an external magnetic field is proposed. The elaborately designed nanoantennas are arranged on the magneto-optical intermediate layer, which is placed on the metallic reflecting layer. Since the non-diagonal elements of the dielectric tensor of the magneto-optical material become non-zero values once the external magnetic field is applied, the differential absorption for the left and right circularly polarized light can be generated. Meanwhile, the amplitude and phase can be flexibly modulated by changing the sizes of the nanoantennas. Based on this, the dynamic multichannel holographic display of metasurface in the linear and circular polarization channels is realized via magnetic control, and it can provide enhanced security for optical information storage. This work paves the way for the realization of magnetically controllable phase modulation, which is promising in dynamic wavefront control and optical information encryption.

Vortex waves with orbital angular momentum (OAM) are a highly active research topic in various fields. In this paper, we design and investigate cylindrical metagratings (CMs) with an even number of unit cells that can efficiently achieve vortex localization and specific OAM selective conversion. The multifunctional manipulation of vortex waves and the new OAM conservation law have further been confirmed through analytical calculations and numerical simulations. In addition, we qualitatively and quantitatively determine the OAM range for vortex localization and the OAM value of vortex selective conversion and also explore the stability for performance and potential applications of the designed structure. This work holds potential applications in particle manipulation and optical communication.

Optical tweezers have proved to be a powerful tool with a wide range of applications. The gradient force plays a vital role in the stable optical trapping of nano-objects. The scalar method is convenient and effective for analyzing the gradient force in traditional optical trapping. However, when the third-order nonlinear effect of the nano-object is stimulated, the scalar method cannot adequately present the optical response of the metal nanoparticle to the external optical field. Here, we propose a theoretical model to interpret the nonlinear gradient force using the vector method. By combining the optical Kerr effect, the polarizability vector of the metallic nanoparticle is derived. A quantitative analysis is obtained for the gradient force as well as for the optical potential well. The vector method yields better agreement with reported experimental observations. We suggest that this method could lead to a deeper understanding of the physics relevant to nonlinear optical trapping and binding phenomena.

Polarizers have always been an important optical component for optical engineering and have played an indispensable part of polarization imaging systems. Metasurface polarizers provide an excellent platform to achieve miniaturization, high resolution, and low cost of polarization imaging systems. Here, we proposed freeform metasurface polarizers derived by adjoint-based inverse design of a full-Jones matrix with gradient-descent optimization. We designed multiple freeform polarizers with different filtered states of polarization (SOPs), including circular polarizers, elliptical polarizers, and linear polarizers that could cover the full Poincaré sphere. Note that near-unitary polarization dichroism and the ultrahigh polarization extinction ratio (ER) reaching 50 dB were achieved for optimized circular polarizers. The multiple freeform polarizers with filtered polarization state locating at four vertices of an inscribed regular tetrahedron of the Poincaré sphere are designed to form a full-Stokes parameters micropolarizer array. Our work provides a novel approach, we believe, for the design of meta-polarizers that may have potential applications in polarization imaging, polarization detection, and communication.

We demonstrate a high-Q perfect light absorber based on all-dielectric doubly-resonant metasurface. Leveraging bound states in the continuum (BICs) protected by different symmetries, we manage to independently manipulate the Q factors of the two degenerate quasi-BICs through dual-symmetry perturbations, achieving precise matching of the radiative and nonradiative Q factors for degenerate critical coupling. We achieve a narrowband light absorption with a >600 Q factor and a > 99% absorptance at λ₀ = 1550 nm on an asymmetric germanium metasurface with a 0.2λ₀ thickness. Our work provides a new strategy for engineering multiresonant metasurfaces for narrowband light absorption and nonlinear applications.

Lithium niobate is a material that exhibits outstanding electro-optic, nonlinear optical, acousto-optic, piezoelectric, photorefractive, and pyroelectric properties. A thin-film lithium niobate photonic crystal can confine light in the sub-wavelength scale, which is beneficial to the integration of the lithium niobate on-chip device. The commercialization of the lithium niobate on insulator gives birth to the emergence of high-quality lithium niobate photonic crystals. In order to provide guidance to the research of lithium niobate photonic crystal devices, recent progress about fabrication, characterization, and applications of the thin-film lithium niobate photonic crystal is reviewed. The performance parameters of the different devices are compared.

In this paper, we propose an ultrabroadband chiral metasurface (CMS) composed of S-shaped resonator structures situated between two twisted subwavelength gratings and dielectric substrate. This innovative structure enables ultrabroadband and high-efficiency linear polarization (LP) conversion, as well as asymmetric transmission (AT) effect in the microwave region. The enhanced interference effect of the Fabry–Perot-like resonance cavity greatly expands the bandwidth and efficiency of LP conversion and AT effect. Through numerical simulations, it has been revealed that the cross-polarization transmission coefficients for normal forward (-z) and backward (+z) incidence exceed 0.8 in the frequency range of 4.13 to 17.34 GHz, accompanied by a polarization conversion ratio of over 99%. Furthermore, our microwave experimental results validate the consistency among simulation, theory, and measurement. Additionally, we elucidate the distinct characteristics of ultrabroadband LP conversion and significant AT effect through analysis of polarization azimuth rotation and ellipticity angles, total transmittance, AT coefficient, and electric field distribution. The proposed CMS structure shows excellent polarization conversion properties via AT effect and has potential applications in areas such as radar, remote sensing, and satellite communication.

Topological photonic states have promising applications in slow light, photon sorting, and optical buffering. However, realizing such states in non-Hermitian systems has been challenging due to their complexity and elusive properties. In this work, we have experimentally realized a topological rainbow in non-Hermitian photonic crystals by controlling loss in the microwave frequency range for what we believe is the first time. We reveal that the lossy photonic crystal provides a reliable platform for the study of non-Hermitian photonics, and loss is also taken as a degree of freedom to modulate topological states, both theoretically and experimentally. This work opens a way for the construction of a non-Hermitian photonic crystal platform, will greatly promote the development of topological photonic devices, and will lay a foundation for the real-world applications.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a high quality (Q)-factor all-silicon bound state in the continuum (BIC) metasurface with an imperforated air-hole array. The metasurface supports two polarization-insensitive BICs originated from guided mode resonances (GMRs) in the frequency range of 0.4 to 0.6 THz, and the measured Q-factors of the two GMRs are as high as 334 and 152, respectively. In addition, the influence of the thickness of the silicon substrate on the two resonances is analyzed in detail. The proposed all-silicon THz metasurface has great potential in the design and application of high-Q metasurfaces.

Hybrid metal-dielectric structures combine the advantages of both metal and dielectric materials, enabling high-confined but low-loss magnetic and electric resonances through deliberate arrangements. However, their potential for enhancing magnetic emission has yet to be fully explored. Here, we study the magnetic and electric Purcell enhancement supported by a hybrid structure composed of a dielectric nanoring and a silver nanorod. This structure enables low Ohmic loss and highly-confined field under the mode hybridization of magnetic resonances on a nanoring and electric resonances on a nanorod in the optical communication band. Thus, the 60-fold magnetic Purcell enhancement and 45-fold electric Purcell enhancement can be achieved. Over 90% of the radiation can be transmitted to the far field. For the sufficiently large Purcell enhancement, the position of emitter has a tolerance of several tens of nanometers, which brings convenience to experimental fabrications. Moreover, an array formed by this hybrid nanostructure can further enhance the magnetic Purcell factors. The system provides a feasible option to selectively excite magnetic and electric emission in integrated photonic circuits. It may also facilitate brighter magnetic emission sources and light-emitting metasurfaces with a more straightforward design.