Aperiodic volume optics

Abstract

Volumetric integrated optical micro- and nanosystems are becoming the new frontier in photonics. Fine control over the material structure within a volume enables novel physical phenomena and previously unthinkable design freedom for spatial, spectral and temporal functions. For instance, materials have been tailored to control light through the use of metamaterials, disordered media and photonic crystals. Although periodic structures have been thoroughly investigated, volumetric aperiodic structures remain largely unexplored. The design of higher dimensional structures is of interest for controlling the multidimensional coherence function (which describes light fields) through diffraction, refraction, radiation and scattering. This report presents a three-dimensional scattering approach to the design of aperiodic volume optical elements and explores new functionalities making use of the now available three-dimensional degrees of freedom. Aperiodic volume elements that multiplex spatial and spectral information are numerically designed and experimentally demonstrated for the first time, hence expanding the traditional capabilities of volume holography, photonic crystals and diffractive optics.