Monolithic Integrated Optical Telescope Based on Cascaded Metasurfaces

Metasurfaces composed of ultrathin subwavelength meta-atoms have attracted intensive attention due to their exceptional abilities to freely manipulate light waves, resulting in numerous new concepts and applications in modern optics. However, the existing metasurfaces are typically designed as single components as part of traditional optical systems, limiting their superiorities of miniaturization and integration. Here, a new design framework for monolithic integrated optical systems is proposed based on cascaded metasurfaces. We experimentally demonstrate an optical telescope system integrating two metasurfaces on a monolithic chip. The telescope prototype has an ultrathin planar structure with 1 mm thickness, and the focal lengths of the two metasurfaces are 800 and 200 μm, respectively. The optical performance specifications of the telescope are characterized, achieving superior resolving power and predesigned magnification functionality. This metasurface-based monolithic integrated optical system brings new possibilities to further improve the miniaturization and integration of optical systems in future.