Inverse-designed non-volatile phase change varifocal metalens at the edge of the visible spectrum

TL;DR

This paper introduces a dynamically tunable metalens operating at the visible spectrum edge, utilizing phase change materials and inverse design to achieve non-volatile, high-efficiency focusing with significant focal length tuning.

Contribution

The work demonstrates a novel inverse-designed metalens based on Sb2S3 that operates at visible wavelengths with non-volatile tuning and high focusing efficiency.

Findings

Achieves 33% focal length tunability.

Focuses with approximately 40% efficiency.

Maintains diffraction-limited performance in both states.

Abstract

Reconfigurable metalenses capable of large focal length tuning, fast response times, and high focusing efficiency while maintaining diffraction-limited operation are highly desirable for next-generation adaptive imaging systems. Phase change chalcogenides provide a promising platform for such devices by exploiting the reversible amorphous-to-crystalline transition to achieve non-volatile tuning with relatively fast switching. However, extending these approaches towards the visible spectrum is challenging because of the reduced meta-atom dimensions, stringent phase coverage requirements, intrinsic material absorption and the need to simultaneously preserve focusing efficiency and image quality across multiple material states. Here, we present a dynamically tunable metalens based on $Sb_2$$S_3$ operating at the edge of the visible spectrum. The design framework combines finite element computations with a genetic algorithm-based inverse design approach to achieve robust phase control in both amorphous and crystalline states. The resulting metalens shows diffraction-limited performance with a minimum focal length tunability of $33\%$, focusing efficiencies of approximately $40\%$ and Strehl ratios of $0.80$ and $0.77$ in the amorphous and crystalline states, respectively.