Spin-controlled generation of a complete polarization set with randomly-interleaved plasmonic metasurfaces

• Published in: Opto-Electronic Advances Vol. 7; no. 8; p. 240076
• Main Authors: im Sande, Sören, Deng, Yadong, Bozhevolnyi, Sergey I., Ding, Fei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institue of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences 01.08.2024
• Subjects: all-polarization generation; multidirectional beam-steering; plasmonic metasurface; randomly interleaved; spin-controlled
• ISSN: 2096-4579
• DOI: 10.29026/oea.2024.240076

Optical metasurfaces, comprising subwavelength quasi-planar nanostructures, constitute a universal platform for manipulating the amplitude, phase, and polarization of light, thus paving a way for the next generation of highly integrated multifunctional optical devices. In this work, we introduce a reflective metasurface for the generation of a complete (angularly resolved) polarization set by randomly interleaving anisotropic plasmonic meta-atoms acting as nanoscale wave plates. In the proof-of-concept demonstration, we achieve multidirectional beam-steering into different polarization channels forming a complete set of polarization states, which can also be dynamically altered by switching the spin of incident light. The developed design concept represents a significant advancement in achieving flat polarization optics with advanced functionalities.