Extrinsic Limitations of Stealthy Hyperuniform Optical Metasurfaces

TL;DR

This study investigates the limitations of stealthy hyperuniform optical metasurfaces, revealing discrepancies between theoretical predictions and experimental results, and providing practical guidelines for their design in photonic applications.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive analysis of physical factors limiting the performance of stealthy hyperuniform metasurfaces at optical frequencies.

Findings

Measured suppression weaker than ideal predictions

Identified physical origins of performance discrepancy

Established realistic performance bounds and design guidelines

Abstract

Hyperuniform metasurfaces promise an unusual form of wave control: the suppression of elastic scattering over extended angular ranges without periodic order. Here, we present a comprehensive experimental and theoretical study of 2D stealthy hyperuniform metasurfaces operating at optical frequencies. In agreement with theoretical expectations, we observe a pronounced reduction of elastic scattering around the specular direction in metasurfaces fabricated by electron-beam lithography. However, the measured suppression is substantially weaker than that predicted by structure-factor calculations based on ideal stealthy hyperuniform point-pattern generators. We identify and quantitatively analyze the physical origins of this discrepancy, and establish realistic performance bounds. By isolating the dominant limiting mechanisms, our results provide practical design guidelines for the implementation of stealthy hyperuniform metasurfaces in functional photonic devices.