Actively Tunable Metalens with Varying Fields of View.

Heo, Hyeonsu; Choi, Minho; Kang, Hyunjung; Oh, Kwang-Suk; Yoon, Seungwoo; Kim, Young-Ki; Baek, Seung-Hwan; Majumdar, Arka et al. · Nano Lett · 2026

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Metasurfaces have emerged as compelling alternatives to conventional optics, owing to their lightweight nature, compact form factor, and diverse functional capabilities. However, their lack of postfabrication tunability limits practical applications where dynamic modulation is crucial. In this work, we integrate liquid crystal and polarization-multiplexed metasurfaces to address two key functionalities: field of view and spatial resolution. We experimentally demonstrate two prototypes: (i) a two-phase switching metasurface that alternates between high-resolution narrow-view and low-resolution wide-view modes and (ii) a three-phase scanning metasurface that realizes three discrete field-of-view states separated by 2°. These results verify that reconfigurable metasurfaces can achieve multistate control of field of view and resolution without mechanical motion.