0000000000023208
AUTHOR
Mahdieh Hashemi
Dielectric metalenses with engineered point spread function
High-index silicon nanoblocks support excitation of both electric and magnetic resonance modes at telecommunication wavelengths. At frequencies where both electric and magnetic resonance modes are excited simultaneously, changing the geometrical dimensions of the silicon cubes creates a 2π full span over the phase of the transmitted light in different amplitude ranges. We take advantage of the additional power-flux modulation of the scattered signal to focus the incident light with desired full width at half maximum (FWHM) and side lobe levels (SLLs) in both the lateral and axial directions. By implementing proper amplitude filters within the telecommunication working wavelength (1.55 μm), …
Flexible design of multifocal metalenses based on autofocused Airy beams
Extreme miniaturization of on-demand optical devices such as ultrathin lenses is currently leading to significant advancements in manufacturing novel materials and nanotechnologies. Flexibility and tunability of engineered layouts enable efficient integration of complex photonic modules. In this regard, here we propose an autofocused Airy (AFA)-based metalens that operates, depending on the molded phase profile, as a multifocal focusing lens, which to the best of our knowledge has not been reported before. To do this, we call attention to the fact that the two conjugate focal points of an AFA beam can be brought into real space by applying a proper convex lens phase profile. Considering ful…
Metacoatings for wavelength scale, high NA plano-concave focusing lenses
We design plano-concave silicon lenses with coupled gradient-index plasmonic metacoatings for ultrawide apertured focusing utilizing a reduced region of $\sim 20 \lambda^2$. The anomalous refraction induced in the planar input side of the lens and in the boundary of the wavelength-scale focal region boosts the curvature of the emerging wavefront, thus significantly enhancing the resolution of the tightly-focused optical wave. The formation of a light tongue with dimensions approaching those of the concave opening is here evidenced. This scheme is expected to have potential applications in optical trapping and detection.
A broadband multifocal metalens in the terahertz frequency range
Abstract Metasurfaces, the 2D form of metamaterials with their ability in phase, amplitude and polarization manipulation are widely used in designing optical devices. Efforts to find proper photonic components in the terahertz (THz) range of frequency lead us to adopt metasurfaces as their constituent elements. Here, we conceived a broadband THz lens with an adjustable number and arrangement of focal points. To have a full control over the lens functionality, we used a metasurface with the capability of simultaneously modulating the amplitude and phase of the incident wave. C-shaped ring resonators (CSRRs) with different geometry and orientation capable of simultaneously manipulating phase …
Plano-concave microlenses with epsilon-near-zero surface-relief coatings for efficient shaping of nonparaxial optical beams
Abstract Epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) materials, including artificial metamaterials, have been advanced to mold laser beams and antenna-mediated radiated waves. Here we propose an efficient method to control Ohmic losses inherent to natural ENZ materials by the assembly of subwavelength structures in a nonperiodic matrix constituting an ENZ metacoating. Implemented over plano-concave transparent substrates whose radius can be of only a few wavelengths, ENZ surface-relief elements demonstrate to adequately shape a plane wave into highly localized fields. Furthermore, our proposal provides an energy efficiency even higher than an ideally-lossless all-ENZ plano-concave lens. Our procedure is satisf…
Amplitude modulation technique for designing metalenses with apodized and enhanced resolution focal spots
Abstract In this paper we show that engineering both phase and amplitude of the scattered light can be employed in designing metalenses with either higher resolution or apodized focal spots. C-shaped split-ring micro-resonators (CSRRs) with different geometrical parameters are selected to have a full control of amplitude and phase. While phase engineering is necessary for light focusing, amplitude modulation of the scattered wave can be applied to characterize the focal point properties such as resolution gain and sidelobe level. We show that both axial and transverse resolution improvement or apodization is possible in the far-field region by applying proper amplitude function. Amplitude m…
Far-field light imaging in the presence of atmospheric turbulence with rotating anti-phase apertures: Theoretical investigation
We investigated the diffraction of far-field light objects in the presence of turbulence formed by an optical system with a rotating anti-phase mask. This mask facilitates to detect the position of faint companion in every direction around the bright companion. In the presence of atmospheric turbulence, diffraction images of distant objects are beyond the diffraction limits, the proposed phase shift mask has a merit to compensate the turbulence results high contrast astronomical imaging under partially coherent light illumination and it is proficient to increase the resolution limits in a Sparrow criterion sense. In this approach, we demonstrated the mask fabrication in laboratory condition…
Metalenses with high-NA, enhanced resolution and apodization
Dielectric microlenses employed in imaging and focusing for optoelectronics are currently prospects to be substituted by metalenses showing an extraordinary optical performance within notably reduced volumes. Here we present some proposals to achieve an enhanced resolution in metallodielectric metasurface-based lenses established on either efficient arrangements with high numerical aperture or spatial filtering enabling to surpass the limit of resolution derived by the Rayleigh criterion.
Metacoatings for wavelength-scale, high-numerical-aperture plano–concave focusing lenses
We design plano–concave silicon lenses with coupled gradient-index plasmonic metacoatings for ultrawide apertured focusing utilizing a reduced region of ∼20λ2. The anomalous refraction induced in the planar input side of the lens and in the boundary of the wavelength-scale focal region boosts the curvature of the emerging wavefront, thus significantly enhancing the resolution of the tightly focused optical wave. The formation of a light tongue with dimensions approaching those of the concave opening is here evidenced. This scheme is expected to have potential applications in optical trapping and detection.
Ultrathin high-index metasurfaces for shaping focused beams
The volume size of a converging wave, which plays a relevant role in image resolution, is governed by the wavelength of the radiation and the numerical aperture (NA) of the wavefront. We designed an ultrathin (λ/8 width) curved metasurface that is able to transform a focused field into a high-NA optical architecture, thus boosting the transverse and (mainly) on-axis resolution. The elements of the metasurface are metal-insulator subwavelength gratings exhibiting extreme anisotropy with ultrahigh index of refraction for TM polarization. Our results can be applied to nanolithography and optical microscopy. Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MEC) (TEC2013-50416-EXP).
Unconventional, efficient and flexible bifocal lens design by metalens and AFA beam combination
In the field of metasurface-based light focusing, both convex metalenses with parabolic phase profile and autofocused Airy (AFA) beams play essential roles. AFA beam generation as a combination of two convergent mirrored Airy beams leaves the space between the two launched Airy profiles inefficient with zero amplitude transmission and constant phase distribution. In this paper, we propose using this inutile space as an independent metalens. We show that coincidence of the focal spot of the metalens to that of the AFA beam will increase the focusing intensity more than 24 percent at its focal point. It is shown that using the nonoperative space between the two launched Airy beams as an indep…