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Subwavelength diffractive optics known as meta-optics have demonstrated the potential to significantly miniaturize imaging systems. However, despite impressive demonstrations, most meta-optical imaging systems suffer from strong chromatic aberrations, limiting their utilities. Here, we employ inverse-design to create broadband meta-optics operating in the long-wave infrared (LWIR) regime (8-12μm). Via a deep-learning assisted multi-scale differentiable framework that links meta-atoms to the phase, we maximize the wavelength-averaged volume under the modulation transfer function (MTF) surface of the meta-optics. Our design framework merges local phase-engineering via meta-atoms and global engineering of the scatterer within a single pipeline. We corroborate our design by fabricating and experimentally characterizing all-silicon LWIR meta-optics. Our engineered meta-optic is complemented by a simple computational backend that dramatically improves the quality of the captured image. We experimentally demonstrate a six-fold improvement of the wavelength-averaged Strehl ratio over the traditional hyperboloid metalens for broadband imaging.

 

Sub-wavelength diffractive optics, commonly known as meta-optics, present a complex numerical simulation challenge, due to their multi-scale nature. The behavior of constituent sub-wavelength scatterers, or meta-atoms, needs to be modeled by full-wave electromagnetic simulations, whereas the whole meta-optical system can be modeled using ray/ Fourier optics. Most simulation techniques for large-scale meta-optics rely on the local phase approximation (LPA), where the coupling between dissimilar meta-atoms is neglected. Here we introduce a physics-informed neural network, coupled with the overlapping boundary method, which can efficiently model the meta-optics while still incorporating all of the coupling between meta-atoms. We demonstrate the efficacy of our technique by designing 1mm aperture cylindrical meta-lenses exhibiting higher efficiency than the ones designed under LPA. We experimentally validated the maximum intensity improvement (up to 53%) of the inverse-designed meta-lens. Our reported method can design large aperture ( ~ 10⁴ − 10⁵λ) meta-optics in a reasonable time (approximately 15 minutes on a graphics processing unit) without relying on the LPA.

 

A broad range of imaging and sensing technologies in the infrared require large field-of-view (FoV) operation. To achieve this, traditional refractive systems often employ multiple elements to compensate for aberrations, which leads to excess size, weight, and cost. For many applications, including night vision eye-wear, air-borne surveillance, and autonomous navigation for unmanned aerial vehicles, size and weight are highly constrained. Sub-wavelength diffractive optics, also known as meta-optics, can dramatically reduce the size, weight, and cost of these imaging systems, as meta-optics are significantly thinner and lighter than traditional refractive lenses. Here, we demonstrate 80° FoV thermal imaging in the long-wavelength infrared regime (8–12 µm) using an all-silicon meta-optic with an entrance aperture and lens focal length of 1 cm. 

We present enabling experimental tools and atom interferometer implementations in a vertical “fountain” geometry with ytterbium Bose–Einstein condensates. To meet the unique challenge of the heavy, non-magnetic atom, we apply a shaped optical potential to balance against gravity following evaporative cooling and demonstrate a double Mach–Zehnder interferometer suitable for applications such as gravity gradient measurements. Furthermore, we also investigate the use of a pulsed optical potential to act as a matter wave lens in the vertical direction during expansion of the Bose–Einstein condensate. This method is shown to be even more effective than the aforementioned shaped optical potential. The application of this method results in a reduction of velocity spread (or equivalently an increase in source brightness) of more than a factor of five, which we demonstrate using a two-pulse momentum-space Ramsey interferometer. The vertical geometry implementation of our diffraction beams ensures that the atomic center of mass maintains overlap with the pulsed atom optical elements, thus allowing extension of atom interferometer times beyond what is possible in a horizontal geometry. Our results thus provide useful tools for enhancing the precision of atom interferometry with ultracold ytterbium atoms.