Single-layer spatial analog meta-processor for imaging processing

Zhuochao Wang; Guangwei Hu; Xinwei Wang; Xumin Ding; Kuang Zhang; Haoyu Li; Shah Nawaz Burokur; Qun Wu; Jian Liu; Jiubin Tan; Cheng-Wei Qiu

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-29732-4

Single-layer spatial analog meta-processor for imaging processing

Nat Commun. 2022 Apr 21;13(1):2188. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-29732-4.

Authors

Zhuochao Wang^#¹, Guangwei Hu^#², Xinwei Wang^#¹, Xumin Ding^{3

4

5

6}, Kuang Zhang⁷, Haoyu Li⁸, Shah Nawaz Burokur⁹, Qun Wu¹⁰, Jian Liu^{1

11

12

13}, Jiubin Tan^{1

11}, Cheng-Wei Qiu¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Advanced Microscopy and Instrumentation Research Center, School of Instrumentation Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150080, China.
² Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117583, Singapore.
³ Advanced Microscopy and Instrumentation Research Center, School of Instrumentation Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150080, China. xuminding@hit.edu.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Ultra-Precision Intelligent Instrumentation of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150080, China. xuminding@hit.edu.cn.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Micro-Systems and Micro-Structures Manufacturing of Ministry of Education, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150080, China. xuminding@hit.edu.cn.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Robotics and Systems, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China. xuminding@hit.edu.cn.
⁷ Department of Microwave Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China. zhangkuang@hit.edu.cn.
⁸ Advanced Microscopy and Instrumentation Research Center, School of Instrumentation Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150080, China. lihaoyu@hit.edu.cn.
⁹ LEME, UPL, Univ Paris Nanterre, F92410, Ville d'Avray, France. sburokur@parisnanterre.fr.
¹⁰ Department of Microwave Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China.
¹¹ Key Laboratory of Ultra-Precision Intelligent Instrumentation of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150080, China.
¹² Key Laboratory of Micro-Systems and Micro-Structures Manufacturing of Ministry of Education, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150080, China.
¹³ State Key Laboratory of Robotics and Systems, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China.
¹⁴ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117583, Singapore. chengwei.qiu@nus.edu.sg.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Computational meta-optics brings a twist on the accelerating hardware with the benefits of ultrafast speed, ultra-low power consumption, and parallel information processing in versatile applications. Recent advent of metasurfaces have enabled the full manipulation of electromagnetic waves within subwavelength scales, promising the multifunctional, high-throughput, compact and flat optical processors. In this trend, metasurfaces with nonlocality or multi-layer structures are proposed to perform analog optical computations based on Green's function or Fourier transform, intrinsically constrained by limited operations or large footprints/volume. Here, we showcase a Fourier-based metaprocessor to impart customized highly flexible transfer functions for analog computing upon our single-layer Huygens' metasurface. Basic mathematical operations, including differentiation and cross-correlation, are performed by directly modulating complex wavefronts in spatial Fourier domain, facilitating edge detection and pattern recognition of various image processing. Our work substantiates an ultracompact and powerful kernel processor, which could find important applications for optical analog computing and image processing.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Computers
Fourier Analysis
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted* / methods
Optics and Photonics*