On-Chip Orbital Angular Momentum Sorting With a Surface Plasmon Polariton Lens

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light provides a new dimension to increase the communication capacity. The compact and miniaturized devices are preferred because of the advantages in reliability and easy integration. In this work, a quarter-ring-shaped phase-gradient metasurface (QR-PGM) is proposed to sort various propagating waves into fully separated waveguide channels according to their OAM states. The principle is based on focal spot shifting arising from the constructive interference of surface plasmon polaritons with azimuthal phase modulated by the vortex beam. A thorough analysis of the SPP focusing properties was also carried out, which suggests the superiority of quarter-circular arc in OAM sorting (compared with half-circular arc). Focusing efficiency of the QR-PGM reaches to 25%, owing to dense sampling of incident light and unidirectional excitation of SPPs. By coupling spots to waveguides, the wide band on-chip sorting was demonstrated. In the broad wavelength band from 1.3 to 1.6 mu m, the extinction ratio of each waveguide port keeps above 3 dB. The proposed structure is compact, efficient, wavelength-division-multiplexing-compatible, and easy to integrate with other on-chip devices. It will be a promising element for high capacity optical communication systems.

Automated summary

The study introduces a quarter-ring-shaped phase-gradient metasurface (QR-PGM) that sorts propagating waves into separate waveguide channels based on their orbital angular momentum states, showing high focusing efficiency and wide wavelength range. This compact and efficient structure can be easily integrated with other on-chip devices, providing new possibilities for high-capacity optical communication systems.