Liquid crystals enable dynamic metasurfaces for transformative optics

Metasurfaces offer precise and efficient light manipulation at the sub-wavelength scale. However, achieving active tunability solely through passive metasurfaces remains a significant technical challenge. Liquid crystals play a critical role in revolutionizing the information display industry, and the marriage of liquid crystals with metasurfaces can offer a promising avenue to facilitate the development of ultra-compact, high-resolution, and wide-angle tunable flat optics. This preview highlights key research advances in liquid crystal-integrated dynamic metasurfaces (LCMs) and their pivotal role in achieving dynamic meta-holographic displays and ultra-thin adaptive metalenses. Finally, we outline challenges and future prospective pathways for LCMs in next-generation miniaturized transformative optics.