A tiny metasurface chip can turn invisible infrared light into steerable visible beams, opening the door to powerful new optical technologies.

Developing extremely small devices that can precisely guide and manipulate light is critical for many emerging technologies. Scientists at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) have now demonstrated an important advance by creating a metasurface that can transform invisible infrared light into visible light and send it in different directions—without any moving parts. Their results are described in a study published in the journal eLight.

How the ultra-thin metasurface chip works.