Planar Large Field-of-View Spectral Imaging Based on Metasurface Array

Abstract

Achieving high-performance spectral imaging over large fields of view (FOV) has remained challenging, particularly with conventional bulky optical systems. Here, a compact transversely dispersive metasurface array is introduced, designed for wide FOV spectral imaging. The system achieves efficient aperture encoding via distinct phase gradients tailored to different incident angles. A genetic algorithm optimizes the spectral reconstruction process, allowing for high-accuracy imaging with a single snapshot. The system demonstrates 120° FOV spectral imaging across 11 channels in the 400–700 nm visible range, using a 91 × 91 metasurface array with 81.5% efficiency in light focusing and first-order diffraction. This approach represents an advancement over traditional methods, offering broad potential in material classification, chemical analysis, remote sensing, and defect detection.