Metasurface holographic image projection based on mathematical properties of Fourier transform

Abstract

Fourier transform, mapping the information in one domain to its reciprocal space, is of fundamental significance in real-time and parallel processing of massive data for sound and image manipulation. As a powerful platform of high-efficiency wave control, Huygens’ metasurface may offer to bridge the electromagnetic signal processing and analog Fourier transform at the hardware level and with remarkably improved performance. We here demonstrate a Huygens’ metasurface hologram, where the image pattern can be self-rotated or projected in free space by modulating the phase distribution based on the rotational invariance, time-shifting and scaling properties of Fourier transform. Our proof-of-concept experiment shows high-efficiency imaging operation in accordance with theoretical predictions, validating the proposed scheme as an ideal way to perform largely parallel spatial-domain mathematical operations in the analog domain using electromagnetic fields.