Nonlocal electro-optic metasurfaces for free-space light modulation

Dynamic optical metasurfaces with ultrafast temporal response, i.e., spatiotemporal optical metasurfaces, provide attractive solutions and open fascinating perspectives for modern highly integrated optics and photonics. In this work, electro-optically controlled optical metasurfaces operating in reflection and utilizing resonant waveguide mode excitation are demonstrated from the viewpoint of free-space propagating light modulation. The modulation of reflected light power with superior characteristics in comparison with prior research is achieved by identifying a suitable low-loss waveguide mode and exploiting its resonant excitation. The electro-optic Pockels effect in a 300 nm-thick lithium niobate (LN) film sandwiched between a continuous thick gold film and an array of gold nanostripes, serving also as control electrodes, is exploited to realize fast and efficient light modulation. The fabricated compact (active area <1000 µm²) modulators operate in the wavelength range of 850-950 nm, featuring a maximum intensity modulation depth of 42 % at the driving voltage of ±10 V within the bandwidth of 13.5 MHz (with the potential bandwidth of 6.5 GHz). The introduced nonlocal electro-optic metasurface configuration opens new avenues towards the realization of ultrafast, efficient, and robust free-space light modulators based on an LN flat optics approach.