Metasurfaces get ultrafast pulses into shape

Metasurfaces Nanostructured metasurfaces have been designed to function as many passive optical elements. Now, Divitt et al. demonstrate that metasurfaces can also be operated as time-dependent active optical elements. They used an array of dielectric metasurfaces to demonstrate pulse shaping of ultrashort (femtosecond) pulses in the near-infrared by manipulating the phase and amplitude of the frequency components. The results present a path for the development of dynamic metasurfaces as a platform for miniaturized optical technology with advanced time-dependent functionality. Science , this issue p. [890][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aav9632