Beam switching and bifocal zoom lensing using active plasmonic metasurfaces

Xinghui Yin; Tobias Steinle; Lingling Huang; Thomas Taubner; Matthias Wuttig; Thomas Zentgraf; Harald Giessen

doi:10.1038/lsa.2017.16

Beam switching and bifocal zoom lensing using active plasmonic metasurfaces

Light Sci Appl. 2017 Jul 28;6(7):e17016. doi: 10.1038/lsa.2017.16. eCollection 2017 Jul.

Authors

Xinghui Yin^{1

2}, Tobias Steinle¹, Lingling Huang³, Thomas Taubner⁴, Matthias Wuttig⁴, Thomas Zentgraf⁵, Harald Giessen¹

Affiliations

¹ 4th Physics Institute and Research Center SCoPE, University of Stuttgart, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany.
² Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstrasse 1, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
³ Beijing Institute of Technology, No. 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Beijing 100081, China.
⁴ I. Institute of Physics (IA), RWTH Aachen University, 52056 Aachen, Germany.
⁵ Department of Physics, University of Paderborn, Warburger Straße 100, 33098 Paderborn, Germany.

Abstract

Compact nanophotonic elements exhibiting adaptable properties are essential components for the miniaturization of powerful optical technologies such as adaptive optics and spatial light modulators. While the larger counterparts typically rely on mechanical actuation, this can be undesirable in some cases on a microscopic scale due to inherent space restrictions. Here, we present a novel design concept for highly integrated active optical components that employs a combination of resonant plasmonic metasurfaces and the phase-change material Ge₃Sb₂Te₆. In particular, we demonstrate beam switching and bifocal lensing, thus, paving the way for a plethora of active optical elements employing plasmonic metasurfaces, which follow the same design principles.

Keywords: active; beam-forming; metasurfaces; phase-change material; plasmonics.