FM3C.

2 Design 2021 © OSA 2021

Spatial Amplitude and Phase Control with High-Efficiency

Meta-optics
Brian O. Raeker1, Hanyu Zheng2, You Zhou3, Jason Valentine4, Anthony Grbic1
1
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
2
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37212, USA
3
Photonics Initiative, Advanced Science Research Center, City University of New York, New York NY 10031, USA
4
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37212, USA
e-mail: braeker@umich.edu

Abstract: Spatial amplitude and phase control across an optical wavefront with high efficiency is
demonstrated using all-dielectric paired-metasurface devices. Experimental results of meta-optics
forming three-dimensional holograms are reported. © 2021 The Author(s)

1. Introduction

Different approaches have been shown to control the amplitude and phase profiles of an optical field using all-
dielectric metasurfaces. They have employed loss-based mechanisms such as material absorption, reflection [1], or
polarization conversion loss [2,3]. While capable of controlling the amplitude and phase distributions of a wavefront,
these approaches exhibit reduced efficiency since losses are used to provide amplitude control. They use single [2,3],
or closely stacked metasurface layers [1] to remove power from the impinging wave. Here, we propose a compound
meta-optic (multiple metasurfaces arranged along a common axis) approach to independently manipulate the spatial
amplitude and phase distributions of an optical wave without loss. Two phase-only metasurfaces are separated by a
short physical distance, where the power density is redistributed as the wave propagates across this distance to form
the desired amplitude distribution. We experimentally demonstrate meta-optics that form three-dimensional
holograms at near-infrared wavelengths, but the platform can be extended to other applications and wavelengths.

2. Meta-optic Design

In this work, we show high-efficiency, spatial amplitude and phase control over an optical field using paired,
transparent dielectric metasurfaces. Fig. 1a shows two phase-only metasurfaces separated by a layer of PDMS,
composing the compound meta-optic. Each metasurface is an array of amorphous silicon nanopillars designed to
impress a high-transmission phase profile onto the incident optical wave. A representative unit cell is shown in Fig.
1b and the transmission versus pillar diameter is shown in Fig. 1c.

Fig. 1 (a) Diagram of a compound meta-optic consisting of two metasurfaces separated by a PDMS dielectric medium. (b) Dimensions of the
metasurface unit cell with period p = 400nm, consisting of an amorphous silicon pillar of height h =750nm and diameter d, at a boundary
between fused silica and PDMS. (c) Transmission characteristics of the unit cell at 𝝀𝝀𝟎𝟎 = 𝟏𝟏. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 under normal plane wave illumination with
periodic boundaries.

The first metasurface applies a phase discontinuity to the source wave to form the desired amplitude distribution
incident on the second metasurface. The propagation of the optical wave across the separation distance redistributes
the power density of the source wave instead of relying on loss. The second metasurface provides a phase correction
to form the desired complex-valued field at the meta-optic output. The phase-discontinuity profiles of each
metasurface are the free parameters of the system, which are designed with an iterative optimization algorithm [4, 5].
 FM3C.2 Design 2021 © OSA 2021

This algorithm numerically propagates the field distributions back and forth across the separation distance and
replaces the amplitude with the known amplitude distribution at each plane (the field amplitude on the transmit side
of metasurface 1 is replaced with the incident source field amplitude and the field amplitude incident on metasurface
2 is replaced with the desired output field amplitude). The phase profiles are carried over in each case and updated as
the algorithm iterates. Eventually, the field amplitude incident on metasurface 2 matches the desired amplitude profile,
and the metasurfaces are designed to realize the optimized phase shift profiles.

3. Experimental Results

The compound meta-optic was constructed by fabricating the metasurfaces individually from an amorphous silicon
layer on fused silica. The nanopillar arrays were defined with electron beam lithography and reactive ion etching [1].
The metasurfaces were then separated by a layer of PDMS and aligned with translation stages. A diagram of the set-
up is shown in Fig. 2a. The meta-optics were experimentally measured with an unpolarized laser beam illumination,
passed through a monochromator to select 𝜆𝜆0 = 1.1𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇 as the working wavelength. The output intensity was imaged
at different distances from the meta-optic output plane to observe image depth of the 3D hologram.
The meta-optic device was designed to transform a uniform, square illumination to a point-source hologram of
the University of Michigan and Vanderbilt University logos rotated by 15 degrees in space around their centers. The
point sources trace the outline of the logos and provide depth. The hologram depth can be seen when images are
recorded at different distances from the meta-optic output, where different portions of the hologram come into focus.
The metasurfaces are square arrays of silicon pillars with a side length of 200µm, and separated by 275µm of PDMS.
Fig. 2(b, c) show measured intensity images of the hologram at different distances from the meta-optic output. These
results clearly show the hologram depth and exhibit very little image noise.
In conclusion, the experimental results demonstrate that meta-optics can perform accurate complex-valued field
transformations without requiring loss. This approach to design high-efficiency compound meta-optics could lead to
improved performance of compact 3D holographic displays, custom optical elements, optical trapping of particles, or
other applications which require detailed control over the amplitude and phase profiles of an optical wavefront.

Fig. 2 (a) Each metasurface is fabricated individually and aligned to form the meta-optic. An unpolarized laser beam illuminates the device and
the intensity images are recorded at a distance from the output plane. (b, c) Intensity image of the point source hologram at different depths.
Due to the 3D nature of the hologram, different parts of the logos are in focus at different depths and are marked by red arrows.

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program and by the
Office of Naval Research under Grant No. N00014-18-1-2536

References
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