Angular Superoscillatory Metalens Empowers Single-Shot Measurement of OAM Modes with Finer Intervals

Distinct from conventional optical lenses suffering from the diffraction limit, the superoscillatory lens offers an alternative approach to realize far-field sub-diffraction focusing and find significant applications in both microscopy and telescopy. During the past few years, planar micro/nanostructures are unitized to precisely manipulate the optical fields through a standard lens to realize a superoscillatory field along the radial direction of the pupil. Here, an angular superoscillatory metalens (ASOM) is demonstrated by combining the superoscillatory phase and angular metalens phase in a single metasurface. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first work that focuses on the angular superoscillatory phenomenon. As a proof-of-concept application demo, this study shows the ASOM can map the received orbital angular modes (OAMs) into focusing patterns at the focal plane with different azimuth angles. Therefore, the OAM spectrum incorporating multiple modes can be determined with a single-shot measurement according to the precalibrated mapping relationship. This study shows that the OAM resolution is scaled up about 3.2 times compared with a normal angular metalens, thanks to the shrinkage of the focal patterns. This approach may push the development of integrated and high-dimensional optical and quantum systems.

Automated summary

Distinct from conventional optical lenses, the superoscillatory lens offers an alternative approach for sub-diffraction focusing in microscopy and telescopy. In this study, an angular superoscillatory metalens (ASOM) is demonstrated by combining superoscillatory and angular metalens phases. The ASOM can map orbital angular modes into focusing patterns at the focal plane with different azimuth angles, allowing for the determination of the OAM spectrum with a single-shot measurement. This study shows an improved OAM resolution compared to normal angular metalenses, potentially advancing the development of integrated and high-dimensional optical and quantum systems.