Metasurface-Enabled Astronomical Polarimetry
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arXiv
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866908396689555456 |
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| author | Li, Lisa W. Oakley, Phillip H. H. Schindhelm, Rebecca N. Sellers, Sean G. Casini, Roberto Rubin, Noah A. |
| author_facet | Li, Lisa W. Oakley, Phillip H. H. Schindhelm, Rebecca N. Sellers, Sean G. Casini, Roberto Rubin, Noah A. |
| contents | In the last decade or so, metasurface optical components have received considerable scientific and industrial interest for a variety of applications. The miniaturization afforded by metasurfaces could benefit astronomy in particular (which is an often-cited potential application area for metasurfaces). However, few developed examples in which metasurface components offer a unique benefit to astronomical instrumentation - substantiated by the production of scientific data - have been shown. Here, we present the Solar Imaging Metasurface Polarimeter (SIMPol), a first-of-its-kind telescope for snapshot imaging polarimetry of the sun around a Sr I line at 460.7 nm enabled by a metasurface polarization-analyzing grating. This high-performance grating exhibits an overall efficiency of nearly 70% and high polarization contrast (diattenuation) across its four observation channels. We demonstrate SIMPol's integration into a major observatory telescope facility with two different imaging modes. In both cases, Zeeman polarization signatures were clearly observed in two adjacent spectral lines of Fe I and Sr I around 460.7 nm. This work demonstrates an early success of metasurface polarization optics in a real application in astronomical instrumentation (here, polarimetric observations of the solar atmosphere), and heralds the application of metasurfaces and emergent nanophotonic technologies in astronomy more broadly. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_06245 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Metasurface-Enabled Astronomical Polarimetry Li, Lisa W. Oakley, Phillip H. H. Schindhelm, Rebecca N. Sellers, Sean G. Casini, Roberto Rubin, Noah A. Optics Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics In the last decade or so, metasurface optical components have received considerable scientific and industrial interest for a variety of applications. The miniaturization afforded by metasurfaces could benefit astronomy in particular (which is an often-cited potential application area for metasurfaces). However, few developed examples in which metasurface components offer a unique benefit to astronomical instrumentation - substantiated by the production of scientific data - have been shown. Here, we present the Solar Imaging Metasurface Polarimeter (SIMPol), a first-of-its-kind telescope for snapshot imaging polarimetry of the sun around a Sr I line at 460.7 nm enabled by a metasurface polarization-analyzing grating. This high-performance grating exhibits an overall efficiency of nearly 70% and high polarization contrast (diattenuation) across its four observation channels. We demonstrate SIMPol's integration into a major observatory telescope facility with two different imaging modes. In both cases, Zeeman polarization signatures were clearly observed in two adjacent spectral lines of Fe I and Sr I around 460.7 nm. This work demonstrates an early success of metasurface polarization optics in a real application in astronomical instrumentation (here, polarimetric observations of the solar atmosphere), and heralds the application of metasurfaces and emergent nanophotonic technologies in astronomy more broadly. |
| title | Metasurface-Enabled Astronomical Polarimetry |
| topic | Optics Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.06245 |