Disordered mosaic metasurfaces with scalable functional density

Abstract

Optical metasurfaces have catalysed transformative advances across imaging, optoelectronics, quantum information processing, sensing, energy conversion, and optical computing. Yet, most current research remains constrained by the challenge of integrating multiple functions within a single device. Inspired by the aesthetic of disordered mosaics in art, we demonstrate that by engineering structural disorder of meta-pixels to implement a photonic function, the active area required can be considerably reduced, without compromising optical performance. Without increasing the design complexity, the remaining unallocated space can be repurposed to encode functionally distinct meta-pixels, each independently addressable via various optical degrees of freedom. To demonstrate the universal adaptability of our approach, we present two proof-of-concept examples including an achromatic metalens - that operates across the 1200-1400 nm spectral window and with a scalable aperture size up to 8.1 mm - and single-shot, high-spatial-resolution polarimetric imaging of arbitrarily structured light fields. This disordered mosaic metasurface platform establishes a versatile foundation for integrating diverse photonic functionalities within a single diffractive optical element, representing a substantial step toward compact, high-density, multifunctional optical devices.