Infrared upconversion imaging in nonlinear metasurfaces
Rocio Camacho-Morales, Lei Xu, Nikolay Dimitrov, Lyubomir Stoyanov, Zhonghua Ma, Alexander A. Dreischuh, Hark Hoe H. Tan, Costantino De Angelis, Chennupati Jagadish, Andrey E. Miroshnichenko, Davide Rocco, Valerio F. Gili, Andrei Komar, Mykhaylo Lysevych, Fouad Karouta, Giuseppe Leo, Mohsen Rahmani, Dragomir N. Neshev
Abstract
Infrared imaging is a crucial technique in a multitude of applications, including night vision, autonomous vehicle navigation, optical tomography, and food quality control. Conventional infrared imaging technologies, however, require the use of materials such as narrow bandgap semiconductors, which are sensitive to thermal noise and often require cryogenic cooling. We demonstrate a compact all-optical alternative to perform infrared imaging in a metasurface composed of GaAs semiconductor nanoantennas, using a nonlinear wave-mixing process. We experimentally show the upconversion of short-wave infrared wavelengths via the coherent parametric process of sum-frequency generation. In this process, an infrared image of a target is mixed inside the metasurface with a strong pump beam, translating the image from the infrared to the visible in a nanoscale ultrathin imaging device. Our results open up new opportunities for the development of compact infrared imaging devices with applications in infrared vision and life sciences.