Characteristic Analysis of Compact Spectrometer Based on Off-Axis Meta-Lens

• Main Authors: Yi Zhou, Rui Chen, Yungui Ma
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-02-01
• Series: Applied Sciences
• Subjects: meta-lens; metasurface; spectrometer; dispersion; off-axis optical system
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/8/3/321

Ultra-compact spectrometers with high-resolution and/or broadband features have long been pursued for their wide application prospects. The off-axis meta-lens, a new species of planar optical instruments, provides a unique and feasible way to realize these goals. Here we give a detailed investigation of the influences of structural parameters of meta-lens-based spectrometers on the effective spectral range and the spectral resolution using both wave optics and geometrical optics methods. Aimed for different usages, two types of meta-lens based spectrometers are numerically proposed: one is a wideband spectrometer working at 800–1800 nm wavelengths with the spectral resolution of 2–5 nm and the other is a narrowband one working at the 780–920 nm band but with a much higher spectral resolution of 0.15–0.6 nm. The tolerance for fabrication errors is also discussed in the end. These provides a prominent way to design and integrate planar film-based spectrometers for various instrumental applications.