Continuous polarization–wavelength mapping with nonlocal metasurfaces

Simultaneous and continuous control over polarization and wavelength-two orthogonal and information-rich degrees of freedom-remains a central challenge in metasurface photonics, long hindered by intrinsic dispersion constraints and structural degeneracy. Here, we customize continuous polarization-wavelength mapping through a nonlocal metasurface platform that decouples birefringent evolution from structural dispersion. We achieve programmable, spectrally resolved polarization shaping across the broadband mid-infrared regime by introducing an equivalent nonlocal Jones matrix formalism and a dimension-interlaced vectorial diffraction neural network. This framework enables fully continuous and arbitrarily prescribed mapping across the joint polarization-wavelength space-beyond the capabilities of segmented or interleaved metasurface designs. We experimentally demonstrate non-degenerate multicolor vectorial holography, broadband achromatic imaging, and arbitrary elliptical polarization multiplexing with high fidelity and minimal crosstalk, maintaining strong channel isolation. Our results establish a scalable route toward continuous-domain photonic encoding, offering a powerful foundation for ultracompact optical communication, vectorial information encryption, and high-dimensional light-field processing.

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Publication Details

Journal
Light Science & Applications
Published
2026-03-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-026-02233-5
Primary Topic
Metamaterials and Metasurfaces Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Continuous polarization–wavelength mapping with nonlocal metasurfaces

Jiuxu Wang, Feilong Yu, Tie Geng, Yiran Zhou et al.
Light Science & Applications
Metamaterials and Metasurfaces Applications
article

Continuous polarization–wavelength mapping with nonlocal metasurfaces

Jiuxu Wang, Feilong Yu, Tie Geng, Yiran Zhou, Guanhai Li, Tongwen Zheng, Rongsheng Chen, Jie Wang, Jin Chen, Xiaoshuang Chen, Rong Jin, Wei Lu
article en

Abstract

Simultaneous and continuous control over polarization and wavelength-two orthogonal and information-rich degrees of freedom-remains a central challenge in metasurface photonics, long hindered by intrinsic dispersion constraints and structural degeneracy. Here, we customize continuous polarization-wavelength mapping through a nonlocal metasurface platform that decouples birefringent evolution from structural dispersion. We achieve programmable, spectrally resolved polarization shaping across the broadband mid-infrared regime by introducing an equivalent nonlocal Jones matrix formalism and a dimension-interlaced vectorial diffraction neural network. This framework enables fully continuous and arbitrarily prescribed mapping across the joint polarization-wavelength space-beyond the capabilities of segmented or interleaved metasurface designs. We experimentally demonstrate non-degenerate multicolor vectorial holography, broadband achromatic imaging, and arbitrary elliptical polarization multiplexing with high fidelity and minimal crosstalk, maintaining strong channel isolation. Our results establish a scalable route toward continuous-domain photonic encoding, offering a powerful foundation for ultracompact optical communication, vectorial information encryption, and high-dimensional light-field processing.

Light Science & ApplicationsVol. 15(1)
Shanghai Innovative Research Center of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CN), Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics (CN), Institute for Advanced Study (DE), Shanghai Clinical Research Center (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, ShanghaiTech University, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Peace, Justice and strong institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 26%
Metamaterials and Metasurfaces Applications
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