Quarter-Wave Plate Meta-Atom Metasurfaces for Continuous Longitudinal Polarization Modulation of Hybrid Poincaré Sphere Beams
Quarter-wave plate (QWP) metasurfaces provide a novel approach for generating three-dimensional (3D) hybrid-order Poincaré sphere (HyOPS) beams and enabling longitudinal polarization modulation, owing to their unique spin-decoupling properties. In this work, we designed a set of QWP meta-atom metasu...
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2025-03-01
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| Series: | Photonics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/3/242 |
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| author | Yunxiao Li Quanhong Feng Gongzheng Fang Haonan Sun Xingyi Fan Zhenghao Liu Hao Wang Yuexu Si Shuhao Si Xuran Li Chen Cheng |
| author_facet | Yunxiao Li Quanhong Feng Gongzheng Fang Haonan Sun Xingyi Fan Zhenghao Liu Hao Wang Yuexu Si Shuhao Si Xuran Li Chen Cheng |
| author_sort | Yunxiao Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Quarter-wave plate (QWP) metasurfaces provide a novel approach for generating three-dimensional (3D) hybrid-order Poincaré sphere (HyOPS) beams and enabling longitudinal polarization modulation, owing to their unique spin-decoupling properties. In this work, we designed a set of QWP meta-atom metasurfaces that generate 3D HyOPS beams with continuously varying polarization states along the propagation direction. The third-, fourth- and fifth-order HyOPS beams are generated by three metasurface devices, respectively. The HyOPS beams exhibit a focal depth of 30 μm, a stable longitudinal propagation, and a continuously evolving polarization state. Notably, complete polarization evolution along the equator of the HyOPS occurs within a depth of 20 μm. Numerical calculations in MATLAB R2022b validated the feasibility of the designed QWP metasurfaces. The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations further confirmed the stable propagation and continuous polarization evolution of the longitudinal light field. Additionally, the concentric arrangement of the QWP meta-atoms on the metasurface effectively mitigates scattering crosstalk caused by abrupt edge phase variations. This work offers new insights into the generation and control of HyOPS light fields and contributes significantly to the development of miniaturized, functionally integrated high-performance nanophotonics. |
| format | Article |
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| issn | 2304-6732 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Photonics |
| spelling | doaj-art-730f0ca793b140539023d3cd3af0a9e62025-08-20T01:49:01ZengMDPI AGPhotonics2304-67322025-03-0112324210.3390/photonics12030242Quarter-Wave Plate Meta-Atom Metasurfaces for Continuous Longitudinal Polarization Modulation of Hybrid Poincaré Sphere BeamsYunxiao Li0Quanhong Feng1Gongzheng Fang2Haonan Sun3Xingyi Fan4Zhenghao Liu5Hao Wang6Yuexu Si7Shuhao Si8Xuran Li9Chen Cheng10Shandong Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Image Processing, Shandong Institute of Industrial Technology for Health Sciences and Precision Medicine, School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250300, ChinaShandong Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Image Processing, Shandong Institute of Industrial Technology for Health Sciences and Precision Medicine, School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250300, ChinaShandong Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Image Processing, Shandong Institute of Industrial Technology for Health Sciences and Precision Medicine, School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250300, ChinaShandong Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Image Processing, Shandong Institute of Industrial Technology for Health Sciences and Precision Medicine, School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250300, ChinaShandong Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Image Processing, Shandong Institute of Industrial Technology for Health Sciences and Precision Medicine, School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250300, ChinaShandong Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Image Processing, Shandong Institute of Industrial Technology for Health Sciences and Precision Medicine, School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250300, ChinaSchool of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Shandong Agriculture and Engineering University, Jinan 250100, ChinaShandong Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Image Processing, Shandong Institute of Industrial Technology for Health Sciences and Precision Medicine, School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250300, ChinaShandong Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Image Processing, Shandong Institute of Industrial Technology for Health Sciences and Precision Medicine, School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250300, ChinaShandong Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Image Processing, Shandong Institute of Industrial Technology for Health Sciences and Precision Medicine, School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250300, ChinaShandong Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Image Processing, Shandong Institute of Industrial Technology for Health Sciences and Precision Medicine, School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250300, ChinaQuarter-wave plate (QWP) metasurfaces provide a novel approach for generating three-dimensional (3D) hybrid-order Poincaré sphere (HyOPS) beams and enabling longitudinal polarization modulation, owing to their unique spin-decoupling properties. In this work, we designed a set of QWP meta-atom metasurfaces that generate 3D HyOPS beams with continuously varying polarization states along the propagation direction. The third-, fourth- and fifth-order HyOPS beams are generated by three metasurface devices, respectively. The HyOPS beams exhibit a focal depth of 30 μm, a stable longitudinal propagation, and a continuously evolving polarization state. Notably, complete polarization evolution along the equator of the HyOPS occurs within a depth of 20 μm. Numerical calculations in MATLAB R2022b validated the feasibility of the designed QWP metasurfaces. The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations further confirmed the stable propagation and continuous polarization evolution of the longitudinal light field. Additionally, the concentric arrangement of the QWP meta-atoms on the metasurface effectively mitigates scattering crosstalk caused by abrupt edge phase variations. This work offers new insights into the generation and control of HyOPS light fields and contributes significantly to the development of miniaturized, functionally integrated high-performance nanophotonics.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/3/242quarter-wave platemetasurfacehybrid Poincaré sphere beamslongitudinal polarization modulation |
| spellingShingle | Yunxiao Li Quanhong Feng Gongzheng Fang Haonan Sun Xingyi Fan Zhenghao Liu Hao Wang Yuexu Si Shuhao Si Xuran Li Chen Cheng Quarter-Wave Plate Meta-Atom Metasurfaces for Continuous Longitudinal Polarization Modulation of Hybrid Poincaré Sphere Beams Photonics quarter-wave plate metasurface hybrid Poincaré sphere beams longitudinal polarization modulation |
| title | Quarter-Wave Plate Meta-Atom Metasurfaces for Continuous Longitudinal Polarization Modulation of Hybrid Poincaré Sphere Beams |
| title_full | Quarter-Wave Plate Meta-Atom Metasurfaces for Continuous Longitudinal Polarization Modulation of Hybrid Poincaré Sphere Beams |
| title_fullStr | Quarter-Wave Plate Meta-Atom Metasurfaces for Continuous Longitudinal Polarization Modulation of Hybrid Poincaré Sphere Beams |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quarter-Wave Plate Meta-Atom Metasurfaces for Continuous Longitudinal Polarization Modulation of Hybrid Poincaré Sphere Beams |
| title_short | Quarter-Wave Plate Meta-Atom Metasurfaces for Continuous Longitudinal Polarization Modulation of Hybrid Poincaré Sphere Beams |
| title_sort | quarter wave plate meta atom metasurfaces for continuous longitudinal polarization modulation of hybrid poincare sphere beams |
| topic | quarter-wave plate metasurface hybrid Poincaré sphere beams longitudinal polarization modulation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/3/242 |
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