On-chip integrated generation and manipulation of vector beams via metasurfaces

Waveguide-integrated optical metasurfaces, which integrate flexible wavefront-shaping metasurfaces with planar waveguides, enable on-chip multifunctional light field tuning and facilitate the development of highly integrated chip-scale optical applications. Herein, we propose an innovative on-chip metasurface scheme for the generation and manipulation of vectorial structured light. Taking tight focusing as a representative example, this scheme overcomes the traditional limitation of separately implementing vector beam generation and high-numerical-aperture (NA) focusing. By integrating a single metasurface onto a planar waveguide, the proposed design achieves the simultaneous realization of both functionalities within a compact on-chip architecture, representing a significant advancement in miniaturized optical manipulation systems. Various types of vector beams, including cylindrical vector beams and optical skyrmion beams, are validated by using our proposed scheme. Furthermore, we demonstrate the potential of this platform for multifunctional applications, such as optical trapping and dynamic topological structure tuning, thereby highlighting the versatility of this metasurface-based on-chip light control technology.