Metasurface spectrometers beyond resolution-sensitivity constraints
Feng Tang, Jingjun Wu, Tom Albrow‐Owen, Hanxiao Cui, Fujia Chen, Yaqi Shi, Lan Zou, Jun Chen, Xuhan Guo, Yijun Sun, Jikui Luo, Bing‐Feng Ju, Jing Huang, Shuangli Liu, Bo Li, Liming Yang, Eric Anthony Munro, Wanguo Zheng, Hannah J. Joyce, Hongsheng Chen, Lufeng Che, Shurong Dong, Zhipei Sun, Tawfique Hasan, Xin Ye, Yihao Yang, Zongyin Yang
Abstract
Conventional spectrometer designs necessitate a compromise between their resolution and sensitivity, especially as device and detector dimensions are scaled down. Here, we report on a miniaturizable spectrometer platform where light throughput onto the detector is instead enhanced as the resolution is increased. This planar, CMOS-compatible platform is based around metasurface encoders designed to exhibit photonic bound states in the continuum, where operational range can be altered or extended simply through adjusting geometric parameters. This system can enhance photon collection efficiency by up to two orders of magnitude versus conventional designs; we demonstrate this sensitivity advantage through ultralow-intensity fluorescent and astrophotonic spectroscopy. This work represents a step forward for the practical utility of spectrometers, affording a route to integrated, chip-based devices that maintain high resolution and SNR without requiring prohibitively long integration times.