Far-Field Phase-Shifting Structured Light Illumination Enabled by Polarization Multiplexing Metasurface for Super-Resolution Imaging

The phase-shifting structured light illumination technique is widely used in imaging but often relies on mechanical translation stages or spatial light modulators, leading to system instability, low displacement accuracy, and limited integration feasibility. In response to these challenges, we propose and demonstrate an approach for generating far-field phase-shifting structured light using a polarization multiplexing metasurface. By controlling the polarization states of incident and transmitted light, the metasurface creates a three-step displacement of structured light, eliminating the need to move samples or illumination sources. As a proof of concept, we experimentally demonstrate microscopic imaging using structured light illumination generated by metasurfaces, extracting high-frequency information from objects, and surpassing the diffraction limit. The proposed metasurface platform offers a promising approach for developing compact and robust phase-shifting imaging systems, with broad prospects in quantitative detection, machine vision, and beyond.