Analysis of the focusing crosstalk effects of broadband all-dielectric planar metasurface microlens arrays for ultra-compact optical device applications

Abstract

Microlens arrays have been widely used for different optoelectronic applications. The demand for compact optical devices necessitates the deployment of even smaller microlens arrays; however, as the spacing between individual lenses reduces and the lens diameter approaches the length scale of the incident wavelength of light, diffraction starts playing a critical role and produces a significant impact on the final focusing properties of the optical field. In this paper, we analyze the focusing characteristics of all-dielectric ultra-compact metasurface lens arrays for efficient optical device applications, constructed by kinds of broadband planar lenses composed of subwavelength nano-scatterers. By using the 3D finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, focusing and diffraction-based crosstalk effects caused by the changing physical spacing between adjacent metalenses, the diameter of microlenses, the operating wavelength, and the array size are rigorously investigated. Analysis of the achieved results show that a larger spacing, a larger lens size, and a shorter wavelength can lead to a weaker focusing crosstalk effect. Moreover, the crosstalk effect does not have a significant dependence on the array’s overall size. This research study may provide an important technological reference to designing an array of all-dielectric planar metasurface lenses with a well-controlled focusing performance and may pave the way further toward the application of metasurface lens arrays in compact optical sensing, coupling, and detecting system designs.