Multispectral Imaging with a Planar Cavity-Type Metasurface for Optical Security

Multispectral imaging refers to capturing images in different wavelength ranges across the electromagnetic spectrum. Despite the potential impact of multispectral imaging, its widespread use has been limited by the poor spectral selectivity of naturally occurring materials beyond the visible range. In this study, we present a multilayered planar cavity structure to simultaneously record mutually independent visible and infrared (IR) images on solid surfaces. The structure consists of a color control unit (CCU) and an emission control unit (ECU). The visible color of the cavity is controlled by varying the thickness of the CCU, whereas its IR emission is spatially tuned by the laser-induced phase change of a Ge2Sb2Te5 layer embedded in the ECU. Because the CCU comprises only IR lossless layers, its thickness variation has negligible influence on the emission profile. This enables different color and thermal images to be printed in a single structure. The cavity structure can be fabricated on flexible substrates (plastic and paper) as well as rigid bodies. Furthermore, the printed images remain stable against bending. This study shows that the proposed multispectral metasurface is highly promising for use in the field of optical security, such as identification, authentication, and anti-counterfeiting.