Metasurfaces consisting of nanoscale structures are underpinning new physical principles for the creation and shaping of quantum states of light. Multiphoton states that are entangled in spatial or angular domains are an essential resource for many quantum applications; however, their production traditionally relies on bulky nonlinear crystals. We predict and demonstrate experimentally the generation of spatially entangled photon pairs through spontaneous parametric down-conversion from a metasurface incorporating a nonlinear thin film of lithium niobate covered by a silica meta-grating. We measure the correlations of photon pairs and identify their spatial antibunching through violation of the classical Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, witnessing the presence of multimode entanglement. Simultaneously, the photon-pair rate is strongly enhanced by 450 times as compared to unpatterned films because of high-quality-factor resonances. These results pave the way to miniaturization of various quantum devices by incorporating ultrathin metasurfaces functioning as room temperature sources of quantum-entangled photons.

Direct femtosecond (fs) laser processing is a maskless fabrication technique that can effectively modify the optical, electrical, mechanical, and tribological properties of materials for a wide range of potential applications. However, the eventual implementation of fs-laser-treated surfaces in actual devices remains challenging because it is difficult to precisely control the surface properties. Previous studies of the morphological control of fs-laser-processed surfaces mostly focused on enhancing the uniformity of periodic microstructures. Here, guided by the plasmon hybridisation model, we control the morphology of surface nanostructures to obtain more control over spectral light absorption. We experimentally demonstrate spectral control of a variety of metals [copper (Cu), aluminium (Al), steel and tungsten (W)], resulting in the creation of broadband light absorbers and selective solar absorbers (SSAs). For the first time, we demonstrate that fs-laser-produced surfaces can be used as high-temperature SSAs. We show that a tungsten selective solar absorber (W-SSA) exhibits excellent performance as a high-temperature solar receiver. When integrated into a solar thermoelectric generation (TEG) device, W-SSA provides a 130% increase in solar TEG efficiency compared to untreated W, which is commonly used as an intrinsic selective light absorber.

Metasurfaces are two-dimensional nanoantenna arrays that can control the propagation of light at will. In particular, plasmonic metasurfaces feature ultrathin thicknesses, ease of fabrication, field confinement beyond the diffraction limit, superior nonlinear properties, and ultrafast performances. However, the technological relevance of plasmonic metasurfaces operating in the transmission mode at optical frequencies is questionable due to their limited efficiency. The state-of-the-art efficiency of geometric plasmonic metasurfaces at visible and near-infrared frequencies, for example, is ≤10%. Here, we report a multipole-interference-based transmission-type geometric plasmonic metasurface with a polarization conversion efficiency that reaches 42.3% at 744 nm, over 400% increase over the state of the art. The efficiency is augmented by breaking the scattering symmetry due to simultaneously approaching the generalized Kerker condition for two orthogonal polarizations. In addition, the design of the metasurface proposed in this study introduces an air gap between the antennas and the surrounding media that confines the field within the gap, which mitigates the crosstalk between meta-atoms and minimizes metallic absorption. The proposed metasurface is broadband, versatile, easy to fabricate, and highly tolerant to fabrication errors. We highlight the technological relevance of our plasmonic metasurface by demonstrating a transmission-type beam deflector and hologram with record efficiencies.

Generalized Brewster angle (GBA) is the incidence angle at polarization by reflection for p- or s-polarized light takes place. Realizing s-polarization Brewster effect requires a material with magnetic response which is challenging at optical frequencies since the magnetic response of materials at these frequencies is extremely weak. Here, we experimentally realize GBA effect in the visible using a thin-film absorber system consisting of a dielectric film on an absorbing substrate. Polarization by reflection is realized for both p- and s- polarized light at different angles of incidence and multiple wavelengths. We provide a theoretical framework for the generalized Brewster effect in thin-film light absorbers. We demonstrate hydrogen gas sensing using a single layer graphene film transferred on a thin-film absorber at the GBA with ~1 fg/mm2 aerial mass sensitivity. The ultrahigh sensitivity stems from the strong phase sensitivity near point of darkness, particularly at the GBA, and the strong light-matter interaction in planar nanocavities. These findings depart from the traditional domain of thin-films as mere interference optical coatings and highlight its many potential applications including gas sensing and biosensing.