Multiscale Optical Field Manipulation via Planar Digital Optics

Abstract

Replacing curved and bulky optical elements with thin and lightweight counterparts is a persistent pursuit of the optical society. Metasurfaces, as two-dimensional artificial metamaterials, have attracted much attention because of their exceptional ability to manipulate electromagnetic waves such as amplitude, phase, polarization, propagation direction, and so on. With the great advances in planar digital optics and vector optical field manipulation via metasurfaces, planar optics with multiscale optical field manipulation from subwavelength meta-atoms (tens of nanometers) to large-scale planar devices (hundreds of millimeters) is highly desired in practical applications, which may replace conventional optical devices with superior performance and decreased weight or even create completely new functionalities. Here, we give a perspective on the multiscale optical field manipulation based on planar optics. Particular emphasis is given to multifunctional optical field manipulation, intelligent design, and mass fabrication, as well as their potential applications in lightweight laser systems, diffractive sails, integrated optics, etc.