Metasurfaces on silicon photonic waveguides for simultaneous emission phase and amplitude control

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Engineering
• Metasurface Technology
• Silicon Photonics Integration

Background:

• Chip-scale photonic systems are crucial for optical communications and LiDAR.
• Silicon photonics offers integration but requires enhanced control over free-space emission.
• Metasurfaces provide a novel way to manipulate light at the nanoscale.

Purpose of the Study:

• To integrate metasurfaces onto silicon photonic waveguides for versatile free-space emission control.
• To demonstrate the generation of structured beams and holographic images with controlled phase and amplitude.
• To develop a monolithic and CMOS-compatible approach for advanced photonic systems.

Main Methods:

• Integration of metasurfaces directly onto silicon photonic waveguides.
• Experimental demonstration of controlled phase and amplitude profiles for light emission.
• Fabrication using a monolithic and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible process.

Main Results:

• Successful generation of structured beams, including focused Gaussian and Hermite-Gaussian TEM10 beams.
• Demonstration of holographic image projections with reduced speckle.
• Achieved simultaneous control over both phase and amplitude of the emitted light.

Conclusions:

• Metasurface integration on silicon photonics provides versatile control over free-space emission.
• The monolithic, CMOS-compatible approach enables faithful generation of structured beams and improved holographic imaging.
• This technology paves the way for next-generation free-space optical communication and solid-state LiDAR systems.