Inverse designed full-Stokes polarimetric metasurface with simultaneous wavefront sensing for visible light
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866913050692419584 |
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| author | Červinka, Ondřej Hrtoň, Martin Venos, Štěpán Lelek, Jakub Úlehla, Libor Šikola, Tomáš Ligmajer, Filip |
| author_facet | Červinka, Ondřej Hrtoň, Martin Venos, Štěpán Lelek, Jakub Úlehla, Libor Šikola, Tomáš Ligmajer, Filip |
| contents | Metasurfaces have emerged as a powerful platform for compact optical sensors by replacing bulky lenses with flat arrays of subwavelength nanostructures. In precision optical metrology, the simultaneous mapping of a beam's polarization state and wavefront is crucial for real-time diagnostics of stress-induced birefringence and surface flatness. To achieve this in a compact footprint, existing metasurfaces typically partition their aperture into discrete zones, which inherently restricts the light-gathering efficiency and numerical aperture of the system. Here we demonstrate an inverse-designed metasurface that integrates full-Stokes polarimetry and Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensing within a single, continuous aperture in the visible spectrum. By leveraging an adjoint optimization approach to independently control the geometry and rotation of each nanostructure, we break the aperture-sharing paradigm and utilize the entire pixel area for all channels. When coupled with a shallow neural network to automate peak identification and correct for hardware non-idealities, our device yields a mean polarization reconstruction error of only 0.046 across 100 test states on the Poincaré sphere, while simultaneously maintaining the precise focal-spot tracking required for sensitive wavefront tilt detection. This work highlights the capacity of inverse design to generate multifunctional, non-intuitive flat optics that outperforms its traditional counterparts. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_18879 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Inverse designed full-Stokes polarimetric metasurface with simultaneous wavefront sensing for visible light Červinka, Ondřej Hrtoň, Martin Venos, Štěpán Lelek, Jakub Úlehla, Libor Šikola, Tomáš Ligmajer, Filip Optics Applied Physics Metasurfaces have emerged as a powerful platform for compact optical sensors by replacing bulky lenses with flat arrays of subwavelength nanostructures. In precision optical metrology, the simultaneous mapping of a beam's polarization state and wavefront is crucial for real-time diagnostics of stress-induced birefringence and surface flatness. To achieve this in a compact footprint, existing metasurfaces typically partition their aperture into discrete zones, which inherently restricts the light-gathering efficiency and numerical aperture of the system. Here we demonstrate an inverse-designed metasurface that integrates full-Stokes polarimetry and Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensing within a single, continuous aperture in the visible spectrum. By leveraging an adjoint optimization approach to independently control the geometry and rotation of each nanostructure, we break the aperture-sharing paradigm and utilize the entire pixel area for all channels. When coupled with a shallow neural network to automate peak identification and correct for hardware non-idealities, our device yields a mean polarization reconstruction error of only 0.046 across 100 test states on the Poincaré sphere, while simultaneously maintaining the precise focal-spot tracking required for sensitive wavefront tilt detection. This work highlights the capacity of inverse design to generate multifunctional, non-intuitive flat optics that outperforms its traditional counterparts. |
| title | Inverse designed full-Stokes polarimetric metasurface with simultaneous wavefront sensing for visible light |
| topic | Optics Applied Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.18879 |