All-dielectric Metasurfaces Research Articles

High Q-factor multi-Fano resonances in all-dielectric metasurface for high-performance optical switching and sensors

High Q-factor multi-Fano resonances in all-dielectric metasurface for high-performance optical switching and sensors

Merging bound states in the continuum-driven ultrahigh sensing figure of merit in all-dielectric metasurfaces.

Radiation-free photonic bound states in the continuum (BIC) in metasurfaces allow ultrahigh quality (Q) factor and strongly confined mode volume, which are extremely advantageous in the development of ultrasensitive microcavity sensors. However, the conventional isolated BICs are susceptible to failure due to symmetry breaking caused by fabrication imperfection and nonzero incident angle. Here, we propose a silicon nitride-based metasurface with multiple BIC merging. The merging of accidental BIC and symmetry-protected BIC can increase the Q-factor near the Brillouin zone Γ point and thus robustly induces a figure of merit (FOM) of refractive index sensing at small incident angles two orders of magnitude higher than that in isolated BIC configuration. Specifically, the FOM in merging BIC reaches 108 at a 2° incident angle. The BIC merging can be universally achieved in square lattices with C4 symmetry, and slower decay of Q-factor and higher FOM can further occur in hexagonal lattices benefiting from higher-order topological charges. The advantage of merging BIC is also maintained when considering in-plane and out-of-plane symmetry breaking. These results offer a unique design path for high-performance metasurface sensors and can be extended to other high-Q applications such as low-threshold lasers, nonlinear frequency conversion, and low-loss waveguides.

Control of the local and nonlocal electromagnetic response in all-dielectric reconfigurable metasurfaces

Control of the local and nonlocal electromagnetic response in all-dielectric reconfigurable metasurfaces

Multi-scenario refractive index sensor based on merging BIC in an all-dielectric metasurface

In recent years, bound states in the continuum (BICs) in the all-dielectric metasurfaces have attracted considerable attention due to the low radiation loss and large quality factor (Q-factor). In this study, we design a highly sensitive refractive index sensor working in multi-scenario based on merging quasi-BIC in the silicon nitride metasurface. By adjusting the thickness of the metasurface and keeping the structural symmetry, nine BICs distributed in momentum space form the merging BIC at the Γ point with significantly enhanced Q-factor. The transmission spectra of the metasurface sensor disperse with the refractive index in multi-scenario. The modulation depth of the Fano resonance spectrum can exceed 99.9%. The sensitivity and figure of merit of the refractive index sensor based on the merging quasi-BIC can reach 41.35 nm/RIU and 13,389.1 RIU-1 for gas, 59.05 nm/RIU and 8,415.9 RIU-1 for blood, and 66.08 nm/RIU and 8,845.8 RIU-1 for cerebrospinal fluid, respectively. Furthermore, we investigate the influence of the structural deviations on the Q-factor, which of the merging quasi-BIC maintains higher than that of the isolated quasi-BIC. Our work offers a method for designing high-sensitivity sensors working in multi-scenarios, which may hold significant potential for enhancing device performance in gas and biological detection.

Research on high-quality factor sensing characteristics of all-dielectric nanopore array metasurface based on POA-DELM

Abstract Based on the optical properties of symmetric structures independent of each other in the orthogonal direction, an all-dielectric nano-square hole array metasurface which is symmetric along the diagonal is proposed. By changing the size of square nanopores, the symmetry of the periodic unit structure is broken and the double Fano resonance can be excited. The influence of each structural parameter on the sensing performance of the metasurface is analyzed respectively. As the main structural parameters and performance index, the metasurface height and the lengths of the main and sub-diagonal square nanoholes are selected as the input parameters, and the figure of merit (FOM) value is used as the output value. Then the nonlinear mapping relationship between the input and the output is established through deep extreme learning machine (DELM). Different optimization algorithms are used to optimize the weighted FOM values globally. The four evaluation indicators including root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and model fit (R-squared, R2) are used to assess the training effectiveness of the model. It is shown that the indexes are 0.9986, 0.9725, 3.1612 and 0.9733 respectively, and the FOM values of the dual Fano resonance after pelican optimization algorithm ( POA ) optimization are as high as 9.88 × 103 and 1.28 × 105, which demonstrate the effectiveness of POA-DELM proposed in this paper.

All-dielectric structural coloration empowered by bound states in the continuum.

The technological requirements of low-power and high-fidelity color displays have been instrumental in driving research into advanced coloration technologies. At the forefront of these developments is the implementation of dye-free approaches, which overcome previous constraints related to color resolution and fading. Resonant dielectric nanostructures have emerged as a promising paradigm, showing great potential for high efficiency, high color saturation, wide gamut palette, and image reproduction. However, they still face limitations related to color accuracy, purity, and simultaneous brightness tunability. Here, we demonstrate an all-dielectric metasurface empowered by photonic bound states in the continuum (BICs), which supports sharp resonances throughout the visible spectral range, ideally suited for producing a wide range of structural colors. The metasurface design consists of TiO2 ellipses with carefully controlled sizes and geometrical asymmetry, allowing versatile and on-demand variation of the brightness and hue of the output colors, respectively.

Quasi-bound states in the continuum with stable dual-resonance wavelengths in mid-infrared metasurface for ultrasensitive refractive index sensing and molecular vibrations of strong coupling

In this paper, a dual-resonances mid-infrared all-dielectric metasurface sensor based on asymmetric cross dimer, which is driven by quasi-bound states in the continuum (QBIC), is proposed and investigated. The metasurface sensor maintains the total permittivity constant when the asymmetric parameter is adjusted, thereby ensuring the stability of the QBIC resonance wavelengths, which exhibit Q-factors of 6351 and 13561, respectively. The multiple decompositions and electromagnetic field distributions reveal that the toroidal dipole is the dominant component of the dual-resonance modes. The sensitivities to the refractive index are 3559 nm/RIU and 1146 nm/RIU, with corresponding figures of merit of 4449 RIU−1 and 2453 RIU−1, respectively. Further numerical simulations have demonstrated a strong coupling phenomenon between the QBIC and the molecular vibrations of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), resulting in a significant enhancement of the infrared absorption signal. With the 50-nm-thick PMMA layer, the enhancement of molecular signal is 90.614%.

The Design of Highly Reflective All-Dielectric Metasurfaces Based on Diamond Resonators

All-dielectric metasurfaces offer a low-loss alternative to plasmonic metasurfaces. We proposed the configuration for high-reflectivity all-dielectric metasurfaces based on single-crystal diamond (SCD) resonators on fused silica substrate and conducted simulations to optimize and analyze such a configuration via the FDTD solver. We utilized GMR as the design principle to select the configuration and the substrate material, and analyzed the scattering properties of a single SCD resonator by multipole decomposition. Then, we demonstrated that both the cylindrical resonators in square lattice and frustum-shaped resonators in hexagonal lattice can achieve near-unity reflectivity (>99.99%) and ultra-low absorption (<0.001%) at 795 nm, the typical alkali-metal laser wavelength. Additionally, we demonstrated that such a design is quite tolerant of fabrication errors and further supports its potential for realistic applications. To expand the functionality of such devices across multiple wavelengths, dual-band high-reflectivity metasurfaces at 744 nm and 828 nm were also designed. Our work is quite useful for designing diamond-based highly reflective mirrors, paving the way for low-loss all-dielectric reflective metasurfaces in high-power laser applications.

High Q transparency, strong third harmonic generation, and giant nonlinear chirality driven by toroidal dipole-quasi-BIC

Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), nonlinearity, and optical chirality hold significant applications in many areas such as optical switches, slow-light devices, chiral harmonic conversion, and optical storage. In this work, we theoretically propose an asymmetric all-dielectric metasurface supporting toroidal dipole-quasi-bound states in the continuum (TD-q-BICs). High quality (Q) EIT, strong third harmonic generation (THG), and giant nonlinear chirality are achieved via the extremely enhanced electric field energy localized in the Si plate by the TD-q-BIC. A huge transition from high Q EIT with transmission of ∼0.99 to strong chirality with circular dichroism (CD) of ∼0.9 is realized by tuning the angle and polarization state of incident light. Strong THG with efficiency of 4.5 × 10−3 under linear polarization light is due to the highly localized electric field supported by the TD-q-BIC and perfect nonlinear CD chirality with theoretically value of ∼1 originates from the large discrepancy in electric field distributions under different circularly polarized light. Our work provides an innovative paradigm to construct TD-q-BICs-governed EIT analogs, THG, and nonlinear chirality for the development of multifunction nanophotonic meta-devices.

Advanced terahertz refractive index sensor in all-dielectric metasurface utilizing second order toroidal quasi-BIC modes for biochemical environments

We present a novel design for an all-dielectric metasurface ultra-sensitive refractive index (RI) sensor, characterized by a high-quality factor (Qf) and figure of merit (FOM). This design incorporates two high-order toroidal modes, including electric toroidal quadrupole (\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\:{Q}_{T}^{e}$$\\end{document}​) and magnetic toroidal quadrupole (\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\:{Q}_{T}^{m}$$\\end{document}​) based on quasi‑bound states in the continuum (q-BIC) resonances. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of switching between \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\:{Q}_{T}^{e}$$\\end{document} and \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\:{Q}_{T}^{m}$$\\end{document}​ through various symmetry-breaking mechanisms. To excite these high-order toroidal modes, we explored several symmetry-breaking strategies, including complex structural designs, symmetry disruption, and variations in the incident wave angle. Symmetry breaking in the structure induces new modes in the transmission spectrum, which are highly advantageous for sensing applications due to the presence of dark modes. The designed metasurface exhibits the capability to sense a broad range of RI in diverse environments, particularly in biochemical fields. Sensitivity (S) is significantly enhanced by the excitation of new resonance modes and adjustments in the incidence angle, increasing from 217 GHz/RIU in a symmetrical structure to 512.3 GHz/RIU for \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\:{Q}_{T}^{e}$$\\end{document}​. The FOM improves from 197 RIU 1 to 8538 RIU− 1 for \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\:{Q}_{T}^{e}$$\\end{document}​ and 152,395 RIU− 1 for \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\:{Q}_{T}^{m}$$\\end{document}​. Additionally, the Qf rises from 872 to 17,983 and 921,351 for \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\:{Q}_{T}^{e}$$\\end{document}​ and \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\:{Q}_{T}^{m}$$\\end{document}​, respectively.

Single-Shot 3D Imaging Meta-Microscope.

Three-dimensional (3D) imaging enables high-precision and high-resolution axial positioning, which is crucial for biological imaging, semiconductor defect monitoring, and other applications. Conventional implementations rely on bulky optical elements or scanning mechanisms, resulting in low speed and complicated setups. Here, we generate the double-helix (DH) point spread function with an all-dielectric metasurface and thus innovate the 3D imaging microscope (hence dubbed meta-microscope), both in 4f and 2f imaging systems. The 4f-meta-microscope with a numerical aperture of 0.7 achieves an axial localization accuracy below 0.12 μm within a 15.47 μm detection range, while the 2f-DH meta-microscope with a numerical aperture of 0.3 shows a 1.12 μm accuracy within a 227.33 μm range. We also demonstrate single-shot and accurate 3D biological imaging of the mouse kidney tissue and peach anther, providing a comprehensive and efficient approach for 3D bioimaging and other applications through a single-shot 3D meta-microscope.

Spectral prediction of all dielectric nanopore metasurface based on DBO-DNN model

Based on the optical properties of symmetric structures independent of each other in the orthogonal direction, a class of all-dielectric nanohole array metasurfaces symmetrical along the diagonal is designed. By adding nanopores of different shapes to break the symmetry of the periodic unit structure, the double Fano resonance is excited. The spectral characteristics of metasurfaces with the same structure type are studied by finitedifference timedomain (FDTD) method. The deep neural network (DNN) is used to establish the nonlinear mapping relationship between the input structural parameters and the transmission spectrum. The number of hidden layers in the DNN and the number of neurons in each layer are optimized by the dung beetle optimization (DBO) algorithm. Therefore, the number of hidden layers of the model is determined to be 5, and the number of neurons in each layer is 120, 30, 150, 60, 90, respectively. The mean square error (MSE) is used to evaluate the training effect of DNN after optimization search. After 35,000 epochs of training, MSE is reduced to 0.0003926. The influence of different gradient descent optimization algorithms on the prediction results is explored respectively, and it is found that Adamax is the most effective. The results show that the prediction model can predict the spectrum within 1 s. Compared with the traditional simulation method, the simulation time is effectively saved. Meet the requirements of efficient and rapid design of ultra-thin lenses. For the same type of metasurface structure, the transmission spectrum can be accurately predicted without multiple data sets.

Enhanced high-harmonic generation in a polarization-insensitive all-dielectric metasurface exploiting dual-Fano resonance

Nonlinear optics demands efficacious techniques for nonlinear properties engineering. Metasurfaces, as a flat technology with easy fabrication in various arrangements and without the need for phase-matching conditions, are suitable platforms for nonlinear optics. This study proposes a silicon metasurface with special geometry that provides high conversion efficiency by exploiting Fano resonances and the excitation of magnetic and toroidal dipoles. The results indicate the high efficiencies of third harmonic generation of 5.17×10−3 W−2 and fifth harmonic generation of 7.92×10−9 W−4 under 1 GW/cm2 pump intensity in the near-infrared regime. More specifically, linear and nonlinear optical responses of the structure are completely polarization-independent.

All-dielectric ellipsoidal tetramer metasurface sensor with multi-resonances from the bound states in the continuum.

We demonstrate an all-dielectric tetramer metasurface that achieves high-precision refractive index sensing through the excitation of toroidal dipole, magnetic dipole, and electric quadrupole modes, driven by bound states in the continuum (BIC). The metasurface exhibits exceptional performance, with a quality factor of 4.65 × 104, a sensitivity parameter of 649 nm/RIU, and a figure of merit of 1.51 × 104 RIU-1, achieved by optimizing symmetry and lattice perturbations in periodic silicon tetramer ellipsoidal nanodisks on a SiO2 substrate. Additionally, the sensor effectively distinguishes analytes with extinction coefficient differences as small as 0.01 through enhanced broadband absorption. This innovation demonstrates substantial potential for label-free sensing applications in microfluidic chip integration.

Prediction of spectral response of all-dielectric trimer metasurface based on deep learning

Prediction of spectral response of all-dielectric trimer metasurface based on deep learning

Terahertz single/dual beam scanning with tunable field of view by cascaded metasurfaces

Dynamic beam scanning with a dynamically tunable beam number, beam direction, and beam polarization remains a challenge in the terahertz gap, which is urgently needed for terahertz radar, next-generation wireless communication, and imaging applications. Different from programmable metasurfaces with element-level phase control, the beam direction is dynamically controlled by two cascaded all-dielectric metasurfaces during in-plane rotation. For a pair of circularly polarized beams with opposite handedness, the scanning field of view (FOV) can be the same or different according to the independent phase modulation in both layers and for both polarization states. Switchable single-beam and dual-beam scanning is achieved by controlling the incident polarization, which covers the ±60° FOV at 0.291 THz with an angular step of 1° and an average gain of 16.2 dBi. The output beam is quasi-circular polarized with an average ellipticity of 0.83. Single beam scanning along a Fibonacci spiral trajectory and dual beam scanning along symmetric and asymmetric trajectories are experimentally validated. Different beam scanning processes are recorded using a terahertz camera, which show good agreement with the theoretical prediction. The wide field-of-view continuous beam scanning with a switchable number of beams and a flexible FOV may have a significant impact on the development of terahertz radar and terahertz intelligent antennas.

Efficient third harmonic generation in an all-dielectric metasurface based on tunable bound states in the continuum

Efficient third harmonic generation in an all-dielectric metasurface based on tunable bound states in the continuum

High-Q all-dielectric metasurface perfect absorber powered by quasi-bound states in the continuum

All-dielectric perfect absorbers powered by quasi-bound states in the continuum (-BIC) are of great importance for developing high-performance optoelectronic devices because they provide high Q-factor absorption. However, these structures usually require the addition of metal back reflectors or degenerate critical coupling to achieve high absorption, which often introduces problems such as Joule heat output and sensitivity to geometrical parameters. In this work, we present an all-dielectric high Q-factor metasurface perfect absorber (MPA) with a cell structure consisting of split Si elliptical disks. By adjusting the tilt angle of the gap, the metasurface can excite a single quasi-BIC resonance in a highly reflective background, corresponding to the electric quadrupole (EQ) mode. Due to the asymmetric coupling of the EQ mode, the proposed metasurface easily breaks the 50% absorption limit. At the wavelength of 894.645 nm, the metasurface achieves a perfect absorption of more than 99% and has a Q-factor of up to 1955. In addition, the structure shows excellent tolerance to geometrical parameters while ensuring high absorption performance. By adjusting the polarization angle, we have also achieved an arbitrary tuning of the absorption efficiency without frequency shift. This work provides a viable scheme for the design of tunable, large-tolerance, and high-Q all-dielectric MPAs, which have a broad potential application in the fields of optical filtering, optical switching, and polarization detection.

Research on sensing characteristics of high Q-factor all-dielectric metasurfaces based on geometric breaking

The bound states in the continuum (BIC) are widely used in designing metamaterials with high quality factor (Q-factor) resonances due to their perfect localization in the continuous spectral range coexisting with expanding waves. In this study, a T-shaped nanohole all-dielectric metasurface structure is proposed based on the unique electromagnetic properties of all-dielectric metasurfaces, and the fundamental reason of its coupled state and the theoretical basis of BIC excitation are deeply investigated based on the theory of group theory, and the geometric symmetry is broken from multiple angles, and the coupling relationship between discrete eigenmodes and the external continuum is specifically analyzed during the change of symmetry, its spectral response and near-field distribution are numerically calculated. In addition, based on the modulation mechanism of the incident light polarization angle, the three-channel resonance tuning with two resonances of the same frequency and one of a different frequency is realized under the condition that the resonance position and the Q-factor are not affected. This study not only provides a theoretical basis for the excitation conditions and evolution regularity of symmetry-protected BIC, but also solves the problem in the traditional analysis of resonance phenomena without taking the high Q-factor and stability into account, which can provide new designing methods for optical metasurface devices with multi-channel resonance.

Broadband varifocal metalens via dielectric spin-decoupled metasurface

Ultrathin metalens with a large varifocal range and broadband spectral response play an important role in diverse optical applications. In this paper, we numerically demonstrate a broadband varifocal metalens in the near-infrared band based on two cascaded all-dielectric spin-decoupled metasurfaces. The spin-dependent phase profiles are introduced by combining the geometric phase and propagation phase. At the designed wavelength of 1550 nm, when the second metasurface is rotationally actuated with respect to the first metasurface, the left-circularly polarized (LCP) or right-circularly polarized (RCP) focal lengths of metalens can be continuously adjusted with the corresponding highest focusing efficiency of 32% and 50%, respectively. More importantly, the varifocal metalens with bifocal characteristics is realized under the excitation of linearly polarized (LP) light, and the total highest focusing efficiency of two focal spots is up to 48%. The proposed varifocal metalens is anticipated to find applications in miniaturized polarization detection, imaging devices, and wearable displays.