MEMS-integrated metasurfaces for dynamic linear polarizers
Yadong Deng, Chao Meng, Paul C. V. Thrane, Sören im Sande, Sergey I. Bozhevolnyi, Fei Ding
Abstract
Optical metasurfaces (OMSs), planar arrays of meticulously designed meta-atoms, are renowned for remarkable capabilities in manipulating the polarization state of light at subwavelength scales. Nevertheless, most OMS-empowered polarization optics remain static, featuring well-defined optical responses determined by their configurations set during fabrication. Here, we demonstrate a MEMS-OMS-based dynamic linear polarizer (DLP) with an electrically controlled extinction ratio, which is tunable in a fast and reversible fashion, by combining an anisotropic plasmonic OMS with a thin-film piezoelectric MEMS mirror. Capitalizing on the MEMS-OMS DLP, we further implement voltage-controlled grayscale imaging and vector vortex beam generation under linearly and circularly polarized excitations, respectively. Our MEMS-OMS DLP design could enable adaptive photonic systems for advanced applications in optical image encryption, displays, and beyond.