Enabled by planarized phase engineering, metalenses based on metasurfaces offer compact and scalable solutions for applications such as sensing, imaging, and virtual reality. They are particularly attractive for multi-pixel, large-scale heterodyne focal plane arrays in space observatories, where a flat metalens array on a silicon wafer can replace individual lenses, greatly simplifying system integration and beam alignment. In this work, we demonstrate a superconducting niobium nitride (NbN) hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer coupled to a silicon-based metalens operating at terahertz frequencies. The metalens phase profile was derived from a finite-size Gaussian beam source using the Rayleigh–Sommerfeld diffraction integral, and its focusing behavior was validated through 2D simulation. Experimentally, the metalens-coupled NbN HEB receiver exhibited a noise temperature of 1800K at 1.63THz. The power coupling efficiency from free space to the mixer via the metalens was measured to be 25%. Measured far-field beam profiles are Gaussian-like with sidelobes below −14dB. These results demonstrate the feasibility of integrating metalenses with HEB mixers for THz detection, offering a scalable path for compact focal plane arrays in space-based THz instrumentation.

The terahertz frequency region of the electromagnetic spectrum is crucial for understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies and stars throughout the universe's history, as well as the process of planet formation. Detecting the unique spectral signatures of molecules and atoms requires terahertz spectrometers, which must be operated in space observatories due to water vapor absorption in the Earth's atmosphere. However, current terahertz spectrometers face challenges such as low resolution, limited bandwidth, large volume, and complexity. In this paper, the issues of size and weight are addressed by demonstrating a concept for a centimeter-sized, low-weight terahertz spectrometer using a metasurface. The design of the metasurface spectrometer is first discussed for the 1.85 to 2.4 THz range, followed by its fabrication. Next, an array of quantum cascade lasers operating at slightly different frequencies around 2.1 THz is utilized to characterize the spectrometer. Finally, a spectrum inversion method is applied to analyze the measured data, confirming a resolution R (λ/Δλ) of at least 273. This concept can be extended to other application areas, such as planetary observations and various wavelengths in the far-infrared (FIR) and near-infrared (NIR) ranges.

Highly ambitious initiatives aspire to propel a miniature spacecraft to a neighboring star within a human generation, leveraging the radiation pressure of lasers for propulsion. One major challenge for this enormous feat is to build a meter-scale, ultralow mass lightsail with broadband reflectivity. In this work, we present the design and fabrication of a lightsail composed of two distinct dielectric layers with photonic crystal/metasurface structure covering a 4” wafer. We achieved broadband reflection of >70% spanning over the full Doppler-shifted laser wavelength range during spacecraft acceleration with a low total mass in the range of a few grams when scaled up to meter size. Furthermore, we find new paths to reliably fabricate these subwavelength structures over macroscopic areas and then systematically characterize their optical performance, confirming their suitability for future lightsail applications. Our innovative device and precise nanofabrication approaches represent a significant leap toward interstellar exploration.

As a two-dimensional planar material with low depth profile, a metasurface can generate non-classical phase distributions for the transmitted and reflected electromagnetic waves at its interface. Thus, it offers more flexibility to control the wave front. A traditional metasurface design process mainly adopts the forward prediction algorithm, such as Finite Difference Time Domain, combined with manual parameter optimization. However, such methods are time-consuming, and it is difficult to keep the practical meta-atom spectrum being consistent with the ideal one. In addition, since the periodic boundary condition is used in the meta-atom design process, while the aperiodic condition is used in the array simulation, the coupling between neighboring meta-atoms leads to inevitable inaccuracy. In this review, representative intelligent methods for metasurface design are introduced and discussed, including machine learning, physics-information neural network, and topology optimization method. We elaborate on the principle of each approach, analyze their advantages and limitations, and discuss their potential applications. We also summarize recent advances in enabled metasurfaces for quantum optics applications. In short, this paper highlights a promising direction for intelligent metasurface designs and applications for future quantum optics research and serves as an up-to-date reference for researchers in the metasurface and metamaterial fields.

Achromatic devices have wide application prospects in radar and imaging fields. However, chromatic aberration and limited bandwidth restrict their development. Moreover, broadband and highly efficient achromatic devices working in transmission mode are still difficult to realize. In this paper, broadband highly efficient achromatic transmission in the microwave region by a metasurface is achieved. First, the ideal dispersion conditions of achromatic meta-atoms are given. Then, a polarization selective grating metasurface and a split ring slot metasurface are designed using the transfer matrix method and equivalent circuit theory, respectively. The former is used to control phase characteristics while the latter enables controlling dispersion. Phase and dispersion can be controlled independently by cascading them and any phase curve can be designed as is desired. In order to verify the strategy, an achromatic deflector and an achromatic lens are designed and samples are fabricated. The experimental results show that the deflector can realize achromatic refraction from 9.3 to 12.3 GHz with average efficiency 77.5% and the lens can realize achromatic focusing from 9.8 to 12.2 GHz with average efficiency 78.9%, respectively. The experimental results are in good agreement with theory. The findings provide valuable strategy for achromatic devices design, which can be widely applied.