Abstract
Metasurfaces with intense spin–orbit interactions (SOIs) offer an appealing platform for manipulation of polarization and wavefront. Reconfigurable beam manipulation based on switchable SOIs is highly desired in many occasions, but it remains a great challenge since most metasurfaces lack the flexibility and the optical performance is fixed once fabricated. Here, switchable SOIs are demonstrated numerically and experimentally via the combination of plasmonic metasurfaces with phase change materials (PCMs). As a proof‐of‐concept, three metadevices possessing switchable SOIs are fabricated and investigated, which enable spin Hall effect, vortex beam generation, and holography when the PCM is in the amorphous state (corresponding to the “ON” state of SOI). When the PCM changes into the crystalline state (corresponding to the “OFF” state of SOI), these phenomena disappear. Experimental measurements show that a high polarization conversion contrast between “ON” and “OFF” states is obtained within a broadband wavelength range from 8.5 to 10.5 µm. The switchable photonic SOIs proposed here may provide a promising route to design reconfigurable devices for applications such as beam steering, dynamic holographic display, and encrypted optical communications.
Highlights
Reconfigurable beam manipulation based on switchable spin–orbit interactions (SOIs) is highly desired in many occasions, but it remains a great challenge since most metasurfaces lack the flexibility and the optical performance is fixed once fabricated
Benefiting from the spatially inhomogeneous and anisotropic building blocks and transverse gradient phase along the thin interface, metasurfaces are naturally taken as novel platforms for photonic spin–orbit interactions (SOIs).[14,15]
We experimentally demonstrate the switchable SOIs in the mid-infrared spectral range via the combination of plasmonic metasurface with the phase change materials (PCMs) (GST)
Summary
Reconfigurable beam manipulation based on switchable SOIs is highly desired in many occasions, but it remains a great challenge since most metasurfaces lack the flexibility and the optical performance is fixed once fabricated. Switchable SOIs are demonstrated numerically and experimentally via the combination of plasmonic metasurfaces with phase change materials (PCMs). As a proof-of-concept, three metade vices possessing switchable SOIs are fabricated and investigated, which enable spin Hall effect, vortex beam generation, and holography when the PCM is in the amorphous state (corresponding to the “ON” state of SOI). The switchable photonic SOIs proposed here may provide a promising route to design reconfigurable devices for applications such as beam steering, dynamic holographic display, and encrypted optical. Yu Key Laboratory of Opto-Electronic Technology and Systems of the Education Ministry of China Chongqing University Chongqing 400044, China
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