Multidimensional‐Encrypted Meta‐Optics Storage Empowered by Diffraction‐Order Decoupling

Recent advancements in multidimensional multiplexing have paved the way for meta-optics encryption to be a viable solution to next-generation information storage and encryption security. However, challenges persist in increasing simultaneously modulated dimensions while minimizing structural complexity. Here, a novel single-cell order-decoupling method is proposed for the realization of a multidimensional encrypted meta-optics storage system. By analyzing the mathematic relationships between the phases of different diffraction orders, the detour phase structure is optimized to achieve independent encoding freedom for multiple orders. The proposed multidimensional encrypted meta-optics successfully realize the concurrent modulation of four optical dimensions: i) Wavelength, ii) Wavevector Direction, iii) Polarization, and iv) Diffraction Order. The system achieves up to sixteen-channel meta-holograms with low crosstalk and exponentially raises the threshold of brute-force decoding and thus remarkably enhances the information security in optical storage. It envisioned that the on-chip metasurface-based multidimensional encrypted strategy for augmented reality display functionalities presents promising applications in optical encryption/storage, anti-counterfeiting, and multifunctional photonics integrated circuits.