Independent Light Field Manipulation in Diffraction Orders of Metasurface Holography

Metasurface holograms are novel optical elements with enormous potential because of the charming electromagnetic features, which can manipulate amplitude, phase, polarization state, and other parameters of light field via an elaborately designed subwavelength nanostructure array. Metagratings are extensively researched for controlling the feature of light in diffraction orders. However, a flexible and simple method is yearned for realizing independent wavefront manipulation in different orders. Here, a metasurface holography that can reconstruct various information in each diffraction order is demonstrated. The physical model is based on Jacobi–Anger expansion and iterative optimization, and both helicity-dependent and birefringent metasurfaces can work compatibly with this proposed method to achieve arbitrary control of 1D and 2D orders. Specifically, information in 18 channels consisting of diffraction orders and polarization states is encoded in a single metasurface hologram. The approach provides promising and versatile optical elements for beam shaping, holographic display, optical storage, information encryption, etc.