April 29, 2024

Breaking Barriers in Holography: Revolutionary Metamaterials Expand Spectrum Possibilities

Researchers have actually developed a method for creating meta-holograms in both the noticeable and ultraviolet spectral regions, conquering prior limitations. They also devised a way to encode 2 unique holographic stage profiles onto a single metasurface, leveraging polarization qualities and liquid crystal, leading to possible applications in security technologies.( Left) When an electrical field is not used, the liquid crystal cells line up linearly, causing the light to spin clockwise. Alternatively, when an electric field is applied, the arrangement of the liquid crystal cells becomes non-linear, resulting in the light spinning in a different instructions. (Right) The brand-new method facilitates the generation of 2 distinct holograms by developing them to be responsive to the instructions of the light.

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Researchers have developed an approach for generating meta-holograms in both the noticeable and ultraviolet spectral regions, getting rid of prior constraints. They also developed a way to encode two unique holographic phase profiles onto a single metasurface, leveraging polarization characteristics and liquid crystal, leading to possible applications in security technologies. Credit: Nanoscale Horizons.
The term meta signifies the idea of surpassing or transcending. When this concept is related to materials, we describe metamaterials, which are artificially produced substances exhibiting residential or commercial properties that arent naturally present in our environments.
Metasurfaces, acknowledged for their slim and light-weight homes, have captured substantial attention as prospective constituents to be incorporated into mobile augmented truth (AR) and virtual reality (VR) devices to help with holographic generation.

It is crucial to keep in mind that metasurfaces have fundamental constraints, such as their limited capacity to save details and their ability to generate holograms entirely within the noticeable spectrum.
The research study team comprising Professor Junsuk Rho from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Joohoon Kim from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) have actually achieved the generation of meta-holograms appropriate to both the visible and ultraviolet spectral regions.
( Left) When an electric field is not used, the liquid crystal cells line up linearly, causing the light to spin clockwise. Conversely, when an electric field is applied, the arrangement of the liquid crystal cells ends up being non-linear, leading to the light spinning in a different instructions. (Right) The new method assists in the generation of 2 unique holograms by creating them to be responsive to the instructions of the light. Credit: POSTECH.
The research findings have actually been published in the within front cover of Nanoscale Horizons, a prestigious global journal.
The limitation of hologram generation to the visible spectral variety has actually been primarily attributed to light absorption exhibited by the majority of objects in the ultraviolet regime.
However, the research group has actually effectively addressed this obstacle by including a thin layer of specially developed gas structures into the metasurfaces, thus accomplishing significant enhancements in holographic transmission effectiveness within both the ultraviolet and visible programs.
The group has accomplished the encoding of 2 distinct holographic phase profiles onto a single metasurface. The polarization qualities of light govern its propagation through area.
Leveraging this phenomenon, the teams technique allows the arrangement of holographic details both for clockwise circularly polarized light and counter-clockwise circularly polarized light, successfully doubling the amount of info encoded onto metasurfaces.
To facilitate useful implementation, the group utilized liquid crystal, a typically used part in lcd and mobile phones screens, which allows practical adjustment of the lights spin direction. The experimental results demonstrated that in the lack of an electric field, the light exhibits clockwise spinning, thus producing a type A hologram.
Alternatively, the application of an electrical field induces a different light spinning direction, resulting in the generation of a type B hologram. In essence, the research group crafted a gadget efficient in presenting unique holograms based upon the existence or lack of an electric field.
Professor Junsuk Rho– who led the research study– emphasized this development by commenting, “This research study is significant because it conquers the constraints associated with meta-holograms exclusively relevant to the noticeable program and we have achieved the concurrent generation of meta-holograms in both the noticeable and the UV domains.” He included, “This proposed metasurface can have appealing applications in security technologies such as anti-counterfeiting steps, identifications, and passports.”.
Reference: “Spin-isolated ultraviolet-visible dynamic meta-holographic display screens with liquid crystal modulators” by Aqsa Asad, Joohoon Kim, Hafiz Saad Khaliq, Nasir Mahmood, Jehan Akbar, Muhammad Tariq Saeed Chani, Yeseul Kim, Dongmin Jeon, Muhammad Zubair, Muhammad Qasim Mehmood, Yehia Massoud and Junsuk Rho, 18 April 2023, Nanoscale Horizons.DOI: 10.1039/ D2NH00555G.
The research study was carried out with the support from the STEAM Research Program (Center for Nano-optics-based Smart Data Security Technology) of the National Research Foundation of Korea moneyed by the Ministry of Science and ICT and a program of POSCOs Industry-Academic Integrated Research Center.