Metasurface-enabled single-shot and complete Mueller matrix imaging

Abstract

When light scatters off an object, its polarization, in general, changes - a transformation described by the object's Mueller matrix. Mueller matrix imaging is an important technique in science and technology to image the spatially varying polarization response of an object of interest, to reveal rich information otherwise invisible to traditional imaging. In this work, we conceptualize, implement and demonstrate a compact Mueller matrix imaging system - composed of a metasurface to produce structured polarization illumination and a metasurface for polarization analysis - that can, in a single shot, acquire all sixteen components of an object’s spatially-varying Mueller matrix over an image. Our implementation, which is free of any moving parts or bulk polarization optics, should enable and empower applications in real-time medical imaging, material characterization, machine vision, target detection, and other important areas.