Robust Classical and Quantum Polarimetry with a Single Nanostructured Metagrating

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Quantum Information Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Complete polarization state measurement is crucial for classical and quantum optics.
• Existing methods can be complex, sensitive to errors, and require large setups.
• Nanostructured metasurfaces offer potential for miniaturized and efficient optical components.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a new conceptual approach for one-shot complete polarization state measurement using nanostructured metasurfaces.
• To enable measurement for both classical light and multiphoton quantum states.
• To enhance robustness and reduce the size of polarization measurement devices.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing generalized quantum measurements based on positive operator-valued measures.
• Designing and fabricating nanostructured metasurfaces from amorphous silicon.
• Reconstructing polarization states from photon counts or correlations across diffraction orders.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated accurate polarization reconstruction of laser beams experimentally.
• Achieved robustness against fabrication inaccuracies with single-point calibration.
• Designed a single metagrating approach reducing device size and maintaining high efficiency.

Conclusions:

• The proposed metasurface approach enables efficient and robust one-shot polarization measurement.
• This technique is applicable to diverse optical states, including quantum states.
• Potential applications include space-based imaging and satellite optics due to environmental robustness.