Directional Perfect Poincaré Beams Generated by Spin-Decoupling of VCSELs Using Integrated Metasurfaces.

Abstract

Perfect Poincaré beams (PPBs) are structured light fields, featuring constant beam size independent of topological charge, rich spin/orbital angular momentum (SAM/OAM), and complex polarization distributions, finding applications in optical communications, manipulation, and nonlinear optics. However, conventional PPBs generation methods rely on multiple bulky, alignment-sensitive optics, limiting both the efficiency and scalability of the system. To overcome these challenges, we present on-chip generation of PPBs with versatile functionalities by spin decoupling of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) using monolithically integrated metasurfaces. Our method enables direct generation of PPBs with on-demand OAM, polarization order, and output angles at the chip level, eliminating the need for discrete optical components, external laser sources, and their associated alignment requirements. It thereby provides a robust, scalable solution for PPB generation that is seamlessly compatible with existing photonic PPB sources in quantum information processing, super-resolution imaging, and high-dimensional optical communications.