Photonic crystal fiber metalens

Conventional optical fiber has excellent performance in guiding light, which has been widely employed for long-distance optical communication. Although the optical fiber is efficient for transmitting light, its functionality is limited by the dielectric properties of the core’s and cladding’s materials (e.g. Ge-doped-silica and silica glasses). The spot size of the transmitted light is diverging and restricted by the diffraction limit of the dielectric core, and the numerical aperture is determined by the refractive index of the fiber materials. However, the novel technology of metasurfaces is opening the door to a variety of optical fiber innovations. Here, we report an ultrathin optical metalens directly patterned on the facet of a photonic crystal optical fiber that enables light focusing in the telecommunication regime. In-fiber metalenses with focal lengths of 28 μm and 40 μm at a wavelength of 1550 nm are demonstrated with maximum enhanced optical intensity as large as 234%. The ultrathin optical fiber metalens may find novel applications in optical imaging, sensing, and fiber laser designs.