A new publication from Opto-Electronic Advances; DOI 10.29026/oea.2025.240159, discusses on-chip light control of semiconductor optoelectronic devices using integrated metasurfaces.

Since the initial demonstration of the first semiconductor laser in the early 1960s, semiconductor optoelectronic devices have achieved unparalleled commercial success and permeated every facet of human lives from communication, lighting, and entertainment to medicine. Furthermore, in response to the emergence of novel applications, such as the consumer electronics, AR/VR displays, sensing, etc., continuous efforts have been devoted to further upgrade and enrich the performance and functionality of semiconductor optoelectronic devices. As a result, the ongoing trend towards device miniaturization, multi-functional operation and multi-tasking necessitates the integration of innovative engineering solutions. Artificially structured interfaces composed of nano-antennas, known as metasurfaces, are recognized as a disruptive enabling technology with the capability to control and manipulate the electromagnetic waves using ultra-compact and miniaturized optical interfaces. By manipulating the geometry and artificial arrangement of meta-atoms, metasurfaces can be used to precisely customize the amplitude, phase, and polarization of electromagnetic waves. This technology platform is positioned to replace bulky and heavy refractive optical components. Based on the physical properties of the materials, metasurfaces can be categorized into two main types: plasmonic metasurfaces and dielectric metasurfaces. Plasmonic metasurfaces exploit the plasmonic effect of metallic nanostructure to achieve enhancements in electric or magnetic fields, while dielectric metasurfaces made of high-refractive indices materials utilize near-field coupling to generate strong electrical and magnetic resonances simultaneously. For instance, local surface plasmon resonance refers to a collective yet non-propagating electronic oscillation phenomenon in a single metallic structure, occurring when the size of the metallic structure is smaller than the wavelength of the incident wave. In contrast, dielectric structures are capable of generating both electrical and magnetic resonances, which are known as Mie resonances.

Over the past decades, the metasurface technology has become well-established for achieving a large variety of functionalities, ranging from imaging, holographic display, and beam shaping to advanced display, and metrology, etc. The metasurface platform has been proven adequate for testing and proposing innovative functionalities, such as the general Pancharatnam-Berry phase and the topological phase, thereby revealing new mechanisms for manipulating wavefront in the design of optical components. Although versatile meta-optics have been successfully developed into various forms and geometries using a rich family of materials, the need of supporting substrates, hundred times thicker than the metasurface itself, is still required for the majority of free-space applications where the meta-optics is deployed as a standalone device. On the other hand, the planar configuration of metasurface, along with its compatibility with the standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication techniques, makes it highly desirable for on-chip integration with semiconductor optoelectronic devices. Vertical integration of metasurfaces, directly on semiconductor devices, thus represents the ultimate implementation for ultracompact and integrated meta-optoelectronic systems.

The paper outlines the recent advancements in the control and manipulations of semiconductor optoelectronic devices using integrated metasurfaces, with a focus on semiconductor lasers, semiconductor light emitting devices, semiconductor photodetectors and low-dimensional semiconductors. This paper also provides insights into future directions and potential applications utilizing the direct integration of metasurfaces.

This review provides an overview of the extensive requirements for on-chip beam shaping of semiconductor laser, and discussed the advantages of integrated metasurface in improving beam quality, polarization control and wavefront shaping for edge emitting laser and surface emitting laser. It then explores the research progress of integrated metasurface in controlling the emission characteristics of semiconductor light-emitting devices. The applications of metasurfaces in enhancing the photoresponsivity, polarization and wavelength detection, as well as vortex detection for semiconductor photodetectors are also discussed. Finally, it delves into the enhancement of light-matter interactions within low-dimensional materials through metasurface integration.

Keywords: optoelectronics / nanophotonics / metasurfaces / semiconductor
# # # # # #

The review was co-authored by researchers from Zhengzhou University, Beijing University of Technology and Colorado University of Mines, USA. The first author is Dr. Cheng-Long Zheng, and the corresponding authors are Prof. Pei-Nan Ni, Prof. Yi-yang Xie and Prof. Patrice Genevet.

Cheng-Long Zheng, research assistant at the School of Physics, Zhengzhou University. He is mainly engaged in the research of diffractive optical elements and metasurface in the modulation of new light fields, and has hosted the National Natural Science Foundation of China, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, and Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of CPSF. He has published 15 papers in Laser & Photonics Reviews, Advanced Optical Materials, Nanophotonics and other journals.

Pei-Nan Ni, a professor from Henan Key Laboratory of Diamond Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, School of Physics, Zhengzhou University. Prof. Ni is dedicated to the development of diamond-based nanophotonic devices and the exploration of their applications in optoelectronics. He has published 36 papers in Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Laser &Photonics Reviews and other journals.

Yi-Yang Xie, professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Information Science and Technology, Beijing University of Technology. He is currently engaged in the research of semiconductor optoelectronic devices and their applications. The integrated surface VCSEL and array chip are developed, which can be applied in quantum communication, LiDAR and 3D sensing. In recent years, he has published more than 30 papers in Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Laser & Photonics Reviews and other journals as the first author or corresponding author, and been awarded multiple patents for his inventions.

Patrice Genevet, professor at Colorado School of Mines. Prof. Genevet’s research activities concern the development of optical metamaterials, passive and active metasurfaces, and their applications and integration in optoelectronic devices, including VCSEL array, LiDARs, and diffractive optical neural networks. Since 2018, he has been named annually among the Top 1% Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate. He has published more than 70 papers, including Science, Nature series journals, and Physical Review Letters.
# # # # # #
Opto-Electronic Advances (OEA) is a rapidly growing high-impact, open access, peer reviewed monthly SCI journal with an impact factor of 15.3 (Journal Citation Reports for IF2023). Since its launch in March 2018, OEA has been indexed in SCI, EI, DOAJ, Scopus, CA and ICI databases over the time, and expanded its Editorial Board to 34 members from 17 countries.
# # # # # #


More information: http://www.oejournal.org/oea
Editorial Board: http://www.oejournal.org/oea/editorialboard/list
All issues available in the online archive (http://www.oejournal.org/oea/archive).
Submissions to OEA may be made using ScholarOne (https://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/oea).
ISSN: 2096-4579
CN: 51-1781/TN
Contact Us: oea@ioe.ac.cn
Twitter: @OptoElectronAdv (https://twitter.com/OptoElectronAdv?lang=en)
WeChat: OE_Journal
# # # # # #

Zheng CL, Ni PN, Xie YY et al. On-chip light control of semiconductor optoelectronic devices using integrated metasurfaces. Opto-Electron Adv 8, 240159 (2025). doi: 10.29026/oea.2025.240159