Multiplexed Anticounterfeiting Meta-image Displays with Single-Sized Nanostructures

Metasurfaces have recently been used for multichannel image displays with pixel-size lower than a wavelength, which indicates the potential application in ultracompact anticounterfeiting with high-density and hidden information. However, current multichannel metasurfaces applied in anticounterfeiting are based on the sophisticated nanostructure design or at the cost of giving up some controls on the optical transmission matrix to encode multiple information channels. That is, the overall degrees of freedom offered by these metasurfaces are a "zero-sum game". Here, inspired by the orientation degeneracy indicated in Malus law, we propose a multiplexed anticounterfeiting metasurface consisting of single-sized nanostructures, which provide a new degree of freedom to increase the information capacity of anticounterfeiting without burdening the nanostructure design and fabrication. Specifically, the proposed metasurfaces can record a continuous grayscale image (channel 1) multiplexed with a totally/partially independent, interrelated, or watermarked anticounterfeiting pattern (channel 2). The two channels can be readily switched by polarization control. All experimental metasurface-images (meta-images) with high fidelity agree well with our design. With advantages such as ultracompactness, high-density information, multichannel displays, and strong concealment, the anticounterfeiting metasurfaces can empower advanced research and applications of metasurfaces in high-end optical anticounterfeiting and many other related fields.