High-performance geometric phase elements in silica glass

Abstract

High-precision three-dimensional ultrafast laser direct nanostructuring of silica glass resulting in multi-layered space-variant dielectric metasurfaces embedded in volume is demonstrated. Continuous phase profiles of nearly any optical component are achieved solely by the means of geometric phase. Complex designs of half-wave retarders with 90% transmission at 532 nm and >95% transmission at >1 µm, including polarization gratings with efficiency nearing 90% and computer generated holograms with phase gradient of ~0.8pi rad/µm, were fabricated. Vortex half-wave retarder generating single beam optical vortex with tunable orbital angular momentum of up to ±100ℏ is shown. High damage threshold of silica elements enables simultaneous optical manipulation of large number of micro-objects using high-power laser beams. Thus, the continuous control of torque without altering the intensity distribution was implemented in optical trapping demonstration with a total of 5 W average power, which is otherwise impossible with alternate beam shaping devices. In principle, the direct-write technique can be extended to any transparent material that supports laser assisted nanostructuring, and can be effectively exploited for the integration of printed optics into multi-functional optoelectronic systems.

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