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“Meta-optics has the ability to shape optical wavefronts to create a multifunctional interface between free-space optics and integrated photonics. Using this platform, the researchers were able to simultaneously pass light through 14 PIC gratings and then shape the corresponding beam with 14 different meta-optics, such as meta-lenses, vortex beam generators, extended depth of focus lenses, and holograms.

“Using an array of low-loss meta-optics, we have developed a flexible and interchangeable interface between a photonic integrated circuit and free space,” says senior author Associate Professor Arka Majumdar from the University of Washington in Seattle. These gratings serve as waveguides and direct light from the fiber to the meta-optics chip which shapes and outputs light to free space, parallel to the input light. The PIC comprises 16 identical gratings arranged in a two-dimensional array, each with an aperture size of 300 micrometers and coupled to an optical fiber with a grating coupler. Now, in a study published in Advanced Photonics Nexus, researchers from the University of Washington, have demonstrated a chip-scale hybrid PIC/meta-optical platform consisting of a photonic integrated circuit with gratings below a separate meta-optics chip.

Although this approach is promising, no multifunctional coupling between PIC and free space has yet been reported. In view of this shortcoming, meta-optics capable of manipulating optical wavefronts with arbitrary shapes have been suggested to couple light from PICs. However, these devices can only shape the light wave to a certain degree, limiting their applicability. Grating couplers are commonly used for this purpose because of their grating structure that can diffract light going in or out of the PIC's waveguides. Since PICs use nanometer-scale waveguides to confine and direct light, coupling their light to and from larger devices, such as optical fibers, is tricky. Such combined systems can control qubits for quantum computing and power light detection, as well as ranging systems like the ones used for autonomous vehicle navigation and mapping. The PICs can be used to make subtle changes to the light wave, such as the manipulation of its phase and intensity to achieve a desired output, which can then be guided in free space by meta-optics. Combining these structures allows for the creation of compact optical systems. At the heart of this progress are photonic structures that can control light waves, either at the chip level in the form of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) or in free space as meta-optics. Recent technological advances have given us a remarkable ability to manipulate and control light waves, opening up numerous applications in various fields, such as optical communication, sensing, imaging, energy, and quantum computing.

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