Scalable Light-Printing of Substrate-Engraved Free-Form Metasurfaces

A key challenge for metasurface research is locally controlling at will the nanoscale geometric features on meter-scale apertures. Such a technology is expected to enable large aperture meta-optics and revolutionize fields such as long-range imaging, lasers, laser detection and ranging (LADAR), and optical communications. Furthermore, these applications are often more sensitive to light-induced and environmental degradation, which constrains the possible materials and fabrication process. Here, we present a relatively simple and scalable method to fabricate a substrate-engraved metasurface with locally printed index determined by induced illumination, which, therefore, addresses both the challenges of scalability and durability. In this process, a thin metal film is deposited onto a substrate and transformed into a mask via local laser-induced dewetting into nanoparticles. The substrate is then dry-etched through this mask, and selective mask removal finally reveals the metasurface. We show that masking by the local nanoparticle distribution, and, therefore, the local index, is dependent on the local light-induced dewetting temperature. We demonstrate printing of a free-form pattern engraved into a fused silica glass substrate using a laser raster scan. Large-scale spatially controlled engraving of metasurfaces has implications on other technological fields beyond optics, such as surface fluidics, acoustics, and thermomechanics.