Incoherent-Light Metalens Imager for Single-Shot Partial Stokes and Edge Sensing

With the emerging significance of metasurface-based multidimensional optical sensing, most demonstrations have been limited to coherent-light conditions. This study proposes an incoherent multidimensional imager that performs preliminary processing at the optical front end through point-spread-function (PSF) engineering of a metalens. By leveraging the Pancharatnam–Berry (PB) phase for angle and polarization multiplexing, this multidimensional imager splits the positive and negative convolution operations of a Laplacian operator into separate channels. This enables simultaneous edge detection and partial Stokes parameter measurement with minimal back-end electronic computation under an incoherent light. We experimentally demonstrate single-shot edge detection and polarization analysis for spoof and real fingerprints under LED illumination, enabling their effective discrimination. This multidimensional imager applicable to incoherent conditions opens new possibilities for applications such as biometrics and security.