Tunable “Meta”-optical fibers (Invited Paper)

Optical fiber is a well-established and efficient light-guiding medium. Although optical fiber is efficient for transmitting light, its functionality is limited by the dielectric material of the core, which has poor optoelectronic, magneto-optical, and nonlinear-optical responses and has a dielectric diffraction limit. Integration of new materials and nanostructures into fiber will enhance processing/transmission capabilities and novel functionalities. In this talk, I will present our recent development of “Meta”-optical fiber, an advanced optical fiber integrated with emerging nanophotonic concepts such as optical metasurfaces, plasmonic nanowires, and zero-index photonics. I will present the development of ultrathin optical metalens which is cascaded on the facet of a photonic crystal fiber that enables light focusing. I will also discuss the ability to develop tunable meta-optical fiber for advanced beam steering and dynamic focusing. These advanced “meta”-optical fibers open a pathway to revolutionary in-fiber optical imaging/endoscopy, lasers/spectroscopies, and optical communication devices.