Unidirectional and synergistic imaging in the mid-infrared using metasurfaces with engineered disorder

We design large aperture, all-silicon meta-optic doublets for unidirectional and synergistic imaging at a wavelength of 4 μm. When illuminated by a plane wave in the forward mode, our unidirectional imager generates an intense spot on its optic axis at a predefined focal length. In the reverse mode, the imaging performance is significantly reduced, accompanied by a dramatic reduction in light intensity on the focal plane. On the other hand, our synergistic imager is optimized to focus an incoming plane wave only when its constituent meta-optics are used in conjunction with each other. We envision our devices to provide new avenues for the development of metamaterial imaging platforms for applications in defense and data security.