January 19, 2023

by Noah Lloyd

Researchers from Northeastern University, in collaboration with Nanjing University, have broken a “theoretical limit” in metasurface capacities—a.k.a. “holograms.” By introducing carefully engineered noise into Jones matrices, they have produced “the highest capacity reported for polarization multiplexing.” They demonstrate this raised capacity across “11 independent holographic images.”

As the authors say in their abstract, “This discovery implies a new paradigm for high-capacity optical display, information encryption, and data storage,” leading to, for instance, metasurfaces which “can generate 36 distinct images, forming a holographic keyboard pattern.” Their research promises to radically “increase the storage capacity in optical communication, optical encryption, and information storage systems.”

Read “Breaking the limitation of polarization multiplexing in optical metasurfaces with engineered noise” below.

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Faculty: Yongmin Liu