Polarization-Dependent All-Dielectric Metasurface for Single-Shot Quantitative Phase Imaging

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Metamaterials
• Microscopy

Background:

• Phase retrieval is a key technique in quantitative phase imaging for optical metrology and label-free microscopy.
• Traditional phase retrieval methods require multiple intensity measurements, limiting their use to static samples due to camera or sample translation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a faster and more versatile phase retrieval technique applicable to dynamic objects.
• To leverage a single polarization-dependent metasurface for simultaneous image acquisition in phase calculation.

Main Methods:

• Proposed a polarization-dependent all-dielectric metasurface to simultaneously record two images.
• Utilized the two images for phase calculation based on the transport-of-intensity equation.
• Demonstrated the technique for wavefront sensing of technical samples in a standard imaging setup.

Main Results:

• The metasurface successfully splits orthogonal polarization components and introduces a phase shift.
• Simultaneous recording of two images was achieved, enabling efficient phase calculation.
• Proof-of-principle demonstration confirmed the technique's efficacy in wavefront sensing.

Conclusions:

• The metasurface-based approach offers a fast and compact solution for phase retrieval.
• This technique overcomes the limitations of traditional methods for dynamic object imaging.
• The proposed configuration is readily integrable into commercial imaging systems.