Planar 16-band metasurface-enhanced spectral filter for integrated image sensing

Abstract

We study theoretically and demonstrate experimentally a 16-band narrow band wavelength selective filter in the near-infrared range. The combination of a pair of distributed Bragg reflectors with a sub-wavelength grating metasurface embedded in the intra-cavity provides a narrow response which can be tuned by adjusting the geometry of the sub-wavelength grating metasurface. The key advantage of this approach is its ease of fabrication, where the spectral response is tuned by merely changing the grating period, resulting in a perfectly planar geometry that can be easily integrated with a broad variety of photodetectors, thus enabling attractive applications such as bio-imaging, time-of-flight sensors and LiDAR. The experimental results are supported by numerical simulations and effective medium theory that unveil the mechanisms that lead to the optical response of the device. It is also shown how the polarization dependence of the structure can be used to determine very accurately the polarization of incoming light.