Longitudinally continuous varying high-order cylindrical vector fields enabled by spin-decoupled metasurfaces

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Manipulation of 3D vector optical fields is crucial for optics research and applications.
• Current methods are limited to generating fields with few modes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel approach for generating complex 3D vector optical fields with a customizable number of modes.
• To overcome the limitations of existing methods in controlling multi-mode 3D vector optical fields.

Main Methods:

• Spin-decoupled spatial partitioning technique is introduced.
• Asymmetric photonic spin-orbit interactions (PSOIs) are utilized to decouple modes.
• Region displacement for opposite spin states minimizes mode crosstalk.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated generation of 3D vector optical fields with a customizable number of modes.
• Successfully suppressed crosstalk among different optical modes.
• Designed a metasurface to produce longitudinally varying high-order cylindrical vector fields (2nd to 10th order).

Conclusions:

• The proposed spin-decoupled spatial partitioning approach enables precise control over 3D vector optical fields.
• This method allows for arbitrary mode combinations, offering significant potential.
• The technique is promising for applications in biophotonics, quantum optics, and communications.