Granted Patent B2

US 12,461,277 · App. 18/258,108 · Granted Nov 4, 2025

Inventors: Jianxiong Li (Tianjin, CN); Robin Kaissner (Stuttgart, DE); Laura Na Liu (Stuttgart, DE)

Assignee: MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FÖRDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN E.V.

G02B1/002G02B26/02G02F1/15G02F2202/30

Abstract

Claims (27)

1 . An optical component comprising a planar metasurface arranged on a surface of a first substrate and a top layer arranged in a height direction Z above the metasurface, wherein the metasurface comprises an array of scattering structures comprising a metal, wherein the array is a repeating pattern of unit cells, wherein a unit cell comprises at least two different scattering structures,

Wherein the optical properties of the metasurface are controllable by a control signal, wherein first scattering structures are at least partially contacting a layer of a first substance comprising a dielectric material and having a first refractive index and second scattering structures are at least partially contacting a layer of a second substance comprising a polymer, which differs from the first substance and which provides a variable refractive index depending on the control signal,

wherein the real part n and/or the imaginary part K of the variable refractive index of the second substance is shiftable by the control signal to the respective value of the first substance.

2 . The optical component according to claim 1 , wherein the second substance comprises a conducting and/or electrochromic polymer, which is switchable between an oxidized and a reduced state.

3 . The optical component according to claim 1 , wherein the metal of the scattering structures is selected from a group comprising ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, osmium, iridium, platinum, rhenium, copper and gold.

4 . The optical component according to claim 1 , wherein the scattering structures comprise at least 95% of one of these metals.

5 . The optical component according to claim 1 , wherein the scattering structures are deployed as optical antennas.

6 . The optical component according to claim 1 , wherein a geometry and size of the first and/or second scattering structures in an array differs by ≤5%.

7 . The optical component according to claim 1 , wherein the dimensions of the scattering structures are smaller than the wavelength λ of an incident electromagnetic radiation to be manipulated by the optical component.

8 . The optical component according to claim 1 , wherein the optical properties of the metasurface are switchable from a first optical property to a second optical property in less than 500 ms.

9 . The optical component according to claim 1 , wherein the optical properties of the metasurface are switchable from a first optical property to a second optical property in less than 50 ms.

10 . The optical component according to claim 1 , wherein a height of a volume between the first substrate and the top layer is at least 3× the height of the scattering structures, wherein a medium is arranged in this volume.

11 . The optical component according to claim 10 , wherein the medium is an ionic solution.

12 . The optical component according to claim 1 , wherein the first substance comprises a dielectric polymer or acrylate polymer.

13 . The optical component according to claim 1 , wherein the first substance at least partially encloses the first scattering structures.

14 . The optical component according to claim 1 , wherein the first and/or second scattering structures provide a geometry of a cylinder or a parallelepiped.

15 . The optical component according to claim 1 , wherein each unit cell comprises a line of first scattering structures and a line of the second scattering structures, wherein neighboring unit cells are arranged with respect to each other in such a way, that the first and second scattering structures are forming in alternating lines in the array.

16 . The optical component according to claim 1 , wherein the first substrate comprises a carrier, wherein the carrier comprises silica, quartz, a conductive coating, or combinations thereof.

17 . The optical component according to claim 1 , wherein each unit cell is addressable independently by the control signal.

18 . An optical device comprising the optical component according to claim 1 , wherein an application of an electric field causes a modulation of an optical functionality of the optical device due to a modulated phase profile of an incident electromagnetic radiation, which is transmitted through or reflected by the optical component.

19 . The optical device according to claim 18 , wherein the optical device is a holographic device or a lens or a beam steering device.

20 . A method for producing an optical component comprising a planar metasurface, providing optical properties which are controllable by a control signal, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a first substrate,

providing a top layer,

producing an array of scattering structures comprising a metal on a surface of the first substrate, and

creating a repeating pattern of unit cells comprising at least two different scattering structures in the array, by application of a first substance comprising a dielectric material and having a first refractive index on at least a part of a surface of a first fraction of the scattering structures and application of a second substance comprising a polymer and having a second refractive index on at least a part of a surface of a second fraction of the scattering structures,

wherein the second substance differs from the first substance and provides a variable refractive index depending on the control signal, wherein the real part n and/or the imaginary part K of the variable refractive index of the second substance is shiftable by the control signal to the respective value of the first substance.

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (17)