Ultrawide bandgap AlN metasurfaces for ultraviolet focusing and routing

Opt Lett. 2020 Jul 1;45(13):3466-3469. doi: 10.1364/OL.395909.

Abstract

All-dielectric metasurfaces offer a promising way to control amplitude, polarization, and phase of light. However, ultraviolet (UV) component metasurfaces are rarely reported due to significant absorption loss for most dielectric materials and the required smaller footprint or feature size. Here, we demonstrate broadband UV focusing and routing in both transmission and reflection modes in simulations by adopting aluminum nitride (AlN) with ultrawide bandgap and a waveplate metasurface structure. As for experiments, the on-axis, off-axis focusing characteristics in transmission mode have been investigated at representative UVA (375 nm) wavelength for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. Furthermore, we fabricated a UV transmission router for monowavelength, guiding UV light to the designated different spatial positions of the same or different focal planes. Our work is meaningful for the development of UV photonics components and devices and would facilitate the integration and miniaturization of UV nanophotonics.