Work

Orbital angular momentum-based near-infrared full-Stokes polarization detection metasurface

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: An all-dielectric full-Stokes polarization detection metasurface operating in the near-infrared band (1550 nm) is proposed in this work. Through the coordinated modulation of propagation and geometric phases, efficient, simultaneous, and real-time detection of both polarization states and orbital angular momentum (OAM) is achieved. Vortex beams with different polarization states are mapped to pre-designed spatial positions in the focal plane, and quantitative characterization is performed using Stokes parameters, thereby enabling parallel decoding of polarization and OAM on a single integrated platform. The designed silicon-based nano-ellipsoidal unit achieves physical isolation of six polarization-OAM channels through structural anisotropy and precise phase gradient arrangement. Results indicate that for the metasurface with zero topological charge, the reconstruction errors of the six fundamental polarization states’ Stokes parameters are 0.67%, 0.21%, 1.13%, 0.79%, 1.1%, and 0.69%, respectively—all below 1.2%. For a topological charge of 2, reconstruction errors for all six fundamental polarization states remain below 4%, while errors for any polarization state under different topological charges consistently fall below 6%. This study provides a novel approach for compact, multi-degree of freedom optical field detection systems, with promising potential for applications in high speed free space optical communication, high dimensional quantum information processing, and micro/nano-scale optical sensing.

Source: Physica Scripta

DOI: 10.1088/1402-4896/ae8ec1