Atomically Thin Noble Metal Dichalcogenides for Phase-Regulated Meta-optics

Owing to its good air stability and high refractive index, two-dimensional (2D) noble metal dichalcogenide shows intriguing potential for versatile flat optics applications. However, light field manipulation at the atomic scale is conventionally considered unattainable because the small thickness and intrinsic losses of 2D materials completely suppress both resonances and phase accumulation effects. Here, we demonstrate that losses of structured atomically thick PtSe₂ films integrated on top of a uniform substrate can be utilized to create the spots of critical coupling, enabling singular phase behaviors with a remarkable π phase jump. This finding enables the experimental demonstration of atomically thick binary meta-optics that allows an angle-robust and high unit thickness diffraction efficiency of 0.96%/nm in visible frequencies (given its thickness of merely 4.3 nm). Our results unlock the potential of a new class of 2D flat optics for light field manipulation at an atomic thickness.