Optically Addressed Spatial Light Modulator based on Nonlinear Metasurface

TL;DR

This paper introduces a compact, high-resolution optically addressed spatial light modulator based on a nonlinear metasurface that surpasses traditional electrically addressed devices in resolution and efficiency.

Contribution

The development of a novel nonlinear metasurface-based SLM that operates optically without electrodes, achieving unprecedented compactness and resolution.

Findings

Achieves resolution of 250 line pairs per millimeter.

Thickness of the device is only 400 nm.

Operates without electrodes, enabling higher efficiency.

Abstract

Spatial light modulators (SLMs) are devices for modulating amplitude, phase or polarization of a light beam on demand. Such devices have been playing an indispensable inuence in many areas from our daily entertainments to scientific researches. In the past decades, the SLMs have been mainly operated in electrical addressing (EASLM) manner, wherein the writing images are created and loaded via conventional electronic interfaces. However, adoption of pixelated electrodes puts limits on both resolution and efficiency of the EASLMs. Here, we present an optically addressed SLM based on a nonlinear metasurface (MS-OASLM), by which signal light is directly modulated by another writing beam requiring no electrode. The MS-OASLM shows unprecedented compactness and is 400 nm in total thickness benefitting from the outstanding nonlinearity of the metasurface. And their subwavelength feature size enables a high resolution up to 250 line pairs per millimeter, which is more than one order of magnitude better than any currently commercial SLMs. Such MS-OASLMs could provide opportunities to develop the next generation of high resolution displays and all-optical information processing technologies.