Low-loss metasurface optics down to the deep ultraviolet region

摘要

Nanopillars that manipulate UV light An array of hafnium oxide nanopillars on a fused silica substrate efficiently manipulates a broad range of ultraviolet light wavelengths, with potential applications in photolithography, imaging, spectroscopy, and quantum information processing. A resist-based Damascene process was developed by a team led by Cheng Zhang, Ting Xu and Henri J. Lezec in China and the USA. They used lithography to design spaces into a resist template that were then filled with hafnium oxide. The resist was removed with solvent to leave high-aspect-ratio hafnium oxide nanopillars. The pillar height, diameter and orientation, as well as the spacing between the pillars, control how UV light propagates through the thin 'metasurface'. Metasurfaces were used to focus UV light like a lens; transform incident UV light into a propagating, curving output beam; and generate holograms from three UV light wavelengths.