Specifics of scattering and radiation from sparse and dense dielectric meta-surfaces

Abstract

Metasurfaces composed of nanosized silicon particles are considered prospective low-loss media for future planar devices with subwavelength thickness, capable of realizing many optical functionalities, including beam steering, focusing, and holography. Previous studies revealed an opportunity to provide directional scattering from silicon metasurfaces at Kerker’s conditions and projected obtaining significantly enhanced intensity of scattering at overlapping of dipolar magnetic and electric resonances in particles at their specific geometries. Although silicon metasurfaces are usually represented by dense arrays, interactions between resonators are often neglected in their analysis, which typically uses metamaterial concepts, assuming that responses of arrays can be represented by responses of single “meta-atoms.” In this work, we investigate cooperative resonance phenomena in dielectric metasurfaces, including interactions between electric and magnetic resonances within single particles and inter-resonator interactions in arrays. First, we analyze the transformation of the responses of single resonators, when their shape changes from a sphere to a cylinder, and then to a disk, and, in particular, describe the specifics of the formation of electric and magnetic dipole modes at a coincidence of resonances. Then, phenomena in arrays are considered, including the effects of arraying on resonator responses and the effects of packing density on metasurface responses. We demonstrate that dense packing causes strong changes of resonances, transverse coupling, and integration of resonance fields, affecting scattering and radiation from metasurfaces. The obtained results are important for understanding the complexity of responses of dielectric metasurfaces and provide guidance for their design and for scattering and radiation control.