A new publication from Opto-Electronic Advances; DOI 10.29026/oea.2025.240159 , discusses on-chip light control of semiconductor optoelectronic devices using integrated metasurfaces.
Since the initial demonstration of the first semiconductor laser in the early 1960s, semiconductor optoelectronic devices have achieved unparalleled commercial success and permeated every facet of human lives from communication, lighting, and entertainment to medicine. Furthermore, in response to the emergence of novel applications, such as the consumer electronics, AR/VR displays, sensing, etc., continuous efforts have been devoted to further upgrade and enrich the performance and functionality of semiconductor optoelectronic devices. As a result, the ongoing trend towards device miniaturization, multi-functional operation and multi-tasking necessitates the integration of innovative engineering solutions. Artificially structured interfaces composed of nano-antennas, known as metasurfaces, are recognized as a disruptive enabling technology with the capability to control and manipulate the electromagnetic waves using ultra-compact and miniaturized optical interfaces. By manipulating the geometry and artificial arrangement of meta-atoms, metasurfaces can be used to precisely customize the amplitude, phase, and polarization of electromagnetic waves. This technology platform is positioned to replace bulky and heavy refractive optical components. Based on the physical properties of the materials, metasurfaces can be categorized into two main types: plasmonic metasurfaces and dielectric metasurfaces. Plasmonic metasurfaces exploit the plasmonic effect of metallic nanostructure to achieve enhancements in electric or magnetic fields, while dielectric metasurfaces made of high-refractive indices materials utilize near-field coupling to generate strong electrical and magnetic resonances simultaneously. For instance, local surface plasmon resonance refers to a collective yet non-propagating electronic oscillation phenomenon in a single metallic structure, occurring when the size of the metallic structure is smaller than the wavelength of the incident wave. In contrast, dielectric structures are capable of generating both electrical and magnetic resonances, which are known as Mie resonances.
Over the past decades, the metasurface technology has become well-established for achieving a large variety of functionalities, ranging from imaging, holographic display, and beam shaping to advanced display, and metrology, etc. The metasurface platform has been proven adequate for testing and proposing innovative functionalities, such as the general Pancharatnam-Berry phase and the topological phase, thereby revealing new mechanisms for manipulating wavefront in the design of optical components. Although versatile meta-optics have been successfully developed into various forms and geometries using a rich family of materials, the need of supporting substrates, hundred times thicker than the metasurface itself, is still required for the majority of free-space applications where the meta-optics is deployed as a standalone device. On the other hand, the planar configuration of metasurface, along with its compatibility with the standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication techniques, makes it highly desirable for on-chip integration with semiconductor optoelectronic devices. Vertical integration of metasurfaces, directly on semiconductor devices, thus represents the ultimate implementation for ultracompact and integrated meta-optoelectronic systems.
The paper outlines the recent advancements in the control and manipulations of semiconductor optoelectronic devices using integrated metasurfaces, with a focus on semiconductor lasers, semiconductor light emitting devices, semiconductor photodetectors and low-dimensional semiconductors. This paper also provides insights into future directions and potential applications utilizing the direct integration of metasurfaces.
This review provides an overview of the extensive requirements for on-chip beam shaping of semiconductor laser, and discussed the advantages of integrated metasurface in improving beam quality, polarization control and wavefront shaping for edge emitting laser and surface emitting laser. It then explores the research progress of integrated metasurface in controlling the emission characteristics of semiconductor light-emitting devices. The applications of metasurfaces in enhancing the photoresponsivity, polarization and wavelength detection, as well as vortex detection for semiconductor photodetectors are also discussed. Finally, it delves into the enhancement of light-matter interactions within low-dimensional materials through metasurface integration.
Keywords: optoelectronics / nanophotonics / metasurfaces / semiconductor
