MetaScope: Metasurface Based Multimodal Imaging System

Conventional approaches struggle to image tiny biological subjects because their features are too small, and the contrasts are too weak. Metalenses are simple alternatives that can capture all the data from a complex field with one device. A broadband optical metalens is presented, capable of polarization-tunable, bright-field (BF), edge-enhanced (EE), and wide field-of-view (WFOV) imaging systems. The metalens has a feature resolution of 3.91 µm and focuses differently depending on the polarization state. When illuminated with linearly polarized light, it forms focus spots around the metalens suitable for high-resolution WFOV imaging. When light with left and right circular polarization states (LCP or RCP) is incident, the focus shifts farther away, resulting in lower-resolution contrast-enhanced captures. The compact setup, which includes just a metalens and two polarizers, can easily be added to existing microscopes. This work holds significant potential for tiny, high-performance bioimaging and integrated photonic computing devices.