80-degree field-of-view transmissive metasurface-based spatial light modulator

TL;DR

This paper presents a high-resolution, all-solid-state transmissive spatial light modulator based on dielectric metasurfaces with an 80-degree field of view, suitable for advanced optical applications like AR, LiDAR, and optical computing.

Contribution

It introduces a programmable metasurface-based SLM with electrical tunability and a large field of view, combining dielectric metasurfaces with liquid crystal technology for the first time.

Findings

Achieved ~1 um pixel resolution in the SLM.

Demonstrated programmable beam steering with high side mode suppression (~6 dB).

Enhanced field of view to ~80 degrees using a 3D printed microlens.

Abstract

Compact, lightweight and high-performance spatial light modulators (SLMs) are crucial for modern optical technologies. The drive for pixel miniaturization, necessary to improve their performance, has led to a promising alternative, active optical metasurfaces, which enable tunable subwavelength wavefront manipulation. Here, we demonstrate an all-solid-state programmable transmissive SLM device based on Huygens dielectric metasurfaces. The metasurface features electrical tunability, provided by mature liquid crystals (LCs) technology. In contrast to conventional LC SLMs, our device enables high resolution with a pixel size of ~1 um. We demonstrate its performance by realizing programmable beam steering, which exhibits high side mode suppression ratio of ~6 dB. By complementing the device with a 3D printed doublet microlens, fabricated using two-photon polymerization, we enhance the field of view up to ~80 degrees. The developed prototype paves the way to compact, efficient and multifunctional devices for next generation augmented reality displays, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems and optical computing.