Polarization-insensitive RGBN color router based on metasurface
*Correspondence to:
Shuming Wang, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, Jiangsu, China.
E-mail: wangshuming@nju.edu.cn
Light Manip Appl. 2026;1:202607. 10.70401/lma.2026.0016
Received: March 09, 2026Accepted: June 16, 2026Published: July 01, 2026
This manuscript is made available in its unedited form to allow early access to the
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Abstract
Conventional complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors with Bayer color filter arrays face limitations in low-illumination color imaging. Color router (CR) aims to achieve absorption-loss-free spectral separation, providing an efficient way to sort and guide different color lights to the corresponding pixels. However, applying CR to imaging chips requires consideration of different incidence conditions and processing difficulties. In this study, we propose and fabricate a polarization-insensitive “red, green and blue + near-infrared (NIR)” CR based on metasurface, operating within the wavelength range of 400-1,100 nm and exhibiting high light energy utilization efficiency. The structural parameters are optimized through an inverse design method. The device is fabricated by silicon-compatible processes, offering the advantage of high integration. Experimental results demonstrate that the measured energy utilization efficiency reaches over 90%, with the measured average correlation coefficient of spectral curves under different polarizations reaches 0.98. This device can efficiently route visible to NIR light, providing a novel approach for integrating metasurface into CMOS image sensors to enhance high-performance color imaging systems.
Keywords
Metasurface, color router, image sensor, polarization
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Fu Y, Zou X, Chen J, He R, Yuan Q, Yu H, et al. Polarization-insensitive RGBN color router based on metasurface. Light Manip Appl. 2026;1:202607. https://doi.org/10.70401/lma.2026.0016
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Fu Y, Zou X, Chen J, He R, Yuan Q, Yu H, et al. Polarization-insensitive RGBN color router based on metasurface. Light Manip Appl. 2026;1:202607. https://doi.org/10.70401/lma.2026.0016
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