Imaging-based molecular barcoding with pixelated dielectric metasurfaces

The importance of the Fano resonance concept is recognized across multiple fields of physics. In this Review, Fano resonance is explored in the context of optics, with particular emphasis on dielectric nanostructures and metasurfaces.

Engineered optical metamaterials present a unique platform for biosensing applications owing to their ability to confine light to nanoscale regions and to their spectral selectivity. Infrared plasmonic metamaterials are especially attractive because their resonant response can be accurately tuned to that of the vibrational modes of the target biomolecules. Here we introduce an infrared plasmonic surface based on a Fano-resonant asymmetric metamaterial exhibiting sharp resonances caused by the interference between subradiant and superradiant plasmonic resonances. Owing to the metamaterial's asymmetry, the frequency of the subradiant resonance can be precisely determined and matched to the molecule's vibrational fingerprints. A multipixel array of Fano-resonant asymmetric metamaterials is used as a platform for multispectral biosensing of nanometre-scale monolayers of recognition proteins and their surface orientation, as well as for detecting chemical binding of target antibodies to recognition proteins.

Metasurfaces are planar structures that locally modify the polarization, phase, and amplitude of light in reflection or transmission, thus enabling lithographically patterned flat optical components with functionalities controlled by design. Transmissive metasurfaces are especially important, as most optical systems used in practice operate in transmission. Several types of transmissive metasurfaces have been realized, but with either low transmission efficiencies or limited control over polarization and phase. Here we show a metasurface platform based on high-contrast dielectric elliptical nano-posts which provides complete control of polarization and phase with sub-wavelength spatial resolution and experimentally measured efficiency ranging from 72% to 97%, depending on the exact design. Such complete control enables the realization of most free-space transmissive optical elements such as lenses, phase-plates, wave-plates, polarizers, beam-splitters, as well as polarization switchable phase holograms and arbitrary vector beam generators using the same metamaterial platform.