Course Title: METASURFACE FLAT OPTICS

Course Level: I do not wish to select a level for my Short Course as it is designed for all audiences and most of the
required background will be introduced at the beginning.

Course Description:

The course is focused on metasurfaces, sub-wavelength scale artificially structured metal-dielectric
surfaces and upon their applications. Metasurfaces enable the redesign of optical components into thin,
planar, and multifunctional elements. This leads to a major reduction in thickness, in footprint, and in
system complexity, and leads to ease of optical alignment and aberration control. As well, this leads to
the introduction of new optical functions, thus circumventing the limitations of refractive and
conventional diffractive optics. The planarity of flat optics facilitates the unification of semiconductor
manufacturing and lens-making, where the planar technology to manufacture chips will be adapted to
make CMOS compatible metasurface-based optical components for high volume markets and for specialty
applications, ranging from metalenses to novel polarization optics and to multifunctional optical
elements.
The required wavefront control underlying the desired functions is achieved by designing through
dispersion engineering a library of optical elements that control the phase shift, the amplitude, and the
polarization of a light beam. This wavefront control is physically understood through a generalization of
Huygens principle and is performed using a variety of simulation techniques. The Finite Difference Time
Domain method to solve Maxwell’s equations will be introduced and applied to the design of a broad
range of components. Topological optimization and inverse design methods will be briefly discussed in
the context of specific applications.
Design, fabrication and measurements of metalenses, holograms, multifunctional metasurfaces and
waveplates, will be covered with particular emphasis on polarization optics. Applications such as imaging,
AR/VR (Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality), miniature spectrometers, polarimetry, and fiber optics will
be discussed. Commercialization of metaoptics will be briefly discussed.

Benefits and Learning Objectives: 

This course should allow participants to achieve the following learning objective in terms of a basic
working knowledge of specific topics aimed at enabling their entry into the field of flat optics:
• Learn the physics of metasurfaces and principles to achieve wavefront control across the entire
optical spectrum from the visible to far-infrared
• Apply this knowledge to the design of meta-optical components to achieve the required
metasurface phase profile for specific applications
• Learn the basics of metasurface simulations through many specific real-world examples
• Become knowledgeable of fabrication methods, tolerances, trade-offs and limitations
• Become knowledgeable of present and future markets in terms of applications aimed at
displacing or complementing present optical technology

Intended Audience:

The course targets graduate students and early-career professionals with basic knowledge of quantum mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and undergraduate-level optics, interested in biological, agricultural and medical applications of laser spectroscopy aided by plasmonics, molecular coherence, entangled and squeezed light etc. 

Instructor Biography: 

Federico Capasso is a world leader in nanophotonics and principal contributor to metasurfaces and Flat
Optics since their beginnings, and has widely lectured on these topics through plenary talks, tutorials, and
courses. He is the Robert Wallace Professor of Applied Physics at Harvard University, which he joined in
2003 after 27 years at Bell Labs where his career advanced from postdoctoral fellow to VP for Physical
Research. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the
National Academy of Inventors and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the
recipient of numerous international awards such as the Balzan Foundation Prize in Applied Optics, the
King Faisal International Prize for Science, the Arthur Schawlow Prize of The American Physical Society
(APS), The Rumford Prize of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Optical Society of America
(OSA) Wood Prize; and the IEEE Edison Medal . He is a Fellow of OSA, the IEEE, and the APS.