# Metamaterials, Nanophotonics & Integrated Photonics

Domain: Materials & Nanotechnology · 247 papers indexed · newest 2026-10-29

Metasurfaces, thin-film lithium niobate, integrated photonic circuits and optical computing for AI.

Key concepts: metasurface, metamaterial, integrated photonics, thin-film lithium niobate, optical computing, photonic neural network

## Research dossier (premium)

**Metamaterials, Nanophotonics & Integrated Photonics: State of the Field (October 2026)** (v1, updated 2026-10-30; 3,632 words, 66 sources, 28 evidence-mapped claims)

Covers flat optics built from metasurfaces, high-Q and reconfigurable meta-optics, thin-film lithium niobate integrated photonics, and optical computing for AI workloads. The main takeaway is that metasurface optics have moved from single-function demonstrations toward visible and infrared imaging components, while integrated photonics is consolidating around thin-film lithium niobate, with heterogeneous and gain-integrated routes whose system-level benefits are still being measured.

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## Most influential

- **[Flat optics with designer metasurfaces](https://space-kitty.com/papers/doi:10.1038/nmat3839)**. Nanfang Yu, Federico Capasso · 2014 · Nature Materials (doi:10.1038/nmat3839 · 5,979 citations). Source: <https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3839>
- **[Coding metamaterials, digital metamaterials and programmable metamaterials](https://space-kitty.com/papers/doi:10.1038/lsa.2014.99)**. Tie Jun Cui, Mei Qing Qi, Xiang Wan et al. · 2014 · Light Science & Applications (doi:10.1038/lsa.2014.99 · 3,801 citations). Source: <https://doi.org/10.1038/lsa.2014.99>
- **[Planar Photonics with Metasurfaces](https://space-kitty.com/papers/doi:10.1126/science.1232009)**. Alexander V. Kildishev, Alexandra E. Boltasseva, Vladimir M. Shalaev · 2013 · Science (doi:10.1126/science.1232009 · 3,106 citations). Source: <https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1232009>
- **[Metasurface holograms reaching 80% efficiency](https://space-kitty.com/papers/doi:10.1038/nnano.2015.2)**. Guoxing Zheng, Holger Mühlenbernd, Mitchell Kenney et al. · 2015 · Nature Nanotechnology (doi:10.1038/nnano.2015.2 · 2,904 citations). Source: <https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2015.2>
- **[Optically resonant dielectric nanostructures](https://space-kitty.com/papers/doi:10.1126/science.aag2472)**. Arseniy I. Kuznetsov, Andrey E. Miroshnichenko, Mark L. Brongersma et al. · 2016 · Science (doi:10.1126/science.aag2472 · 2,901 citations). Source: <https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aag2472>
- **[Dielectric metasurfaces for complete control of phase and polarization with subwavelength spatial resolution and high transmission](https://space-kitty.com/papers/arxiv:1411.1494)**. Amir Arbabi, Yu Horie, Mahmood Bagheri et al. · 2015 · Nature Nanotechnology (arXiv:1411.1494 · doi:10.1038/nnano.2015.186 · 2,820 citations). Source: <https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2015.186>
  > Metasurfaces are planar structures that locally modify the polarization, phase, and amplitude of light in reflection or transmission, thus enabling lithographically patterned flat optical components with functionalities controlled by design. Transmissive metasurfaces are especially important, as most optical systems used in practice operate in transmission. Several types of transmissive metasurfaces have been realized, but with either low transmission efficiencies or limited control over polarization and phase. Here we show a metasurface platform based on high-contrast dielectric elliptical na…
- **[A review of metasurfaces: physics and applications](https://space-kitty.com/papers/arxiv:1605.07672)**. Hou‐Tong Chen, Antoinette J. Taylor, Nanfang Yu · 2016 · Reports on Progress in Physics (arXiv:1605.07672 · doi:10.1088/0034-4885/79/7/076401 · 2,573 citations). Source: <https://doi.org/10.1088/0034-4885/79/7/076401>
  > Metamaterials are composed of periodic subwavelength metal/dielectric structures that resonantly couple to the electric and/or magnetic components of the incident electromagnetic fields, exhibiting properties that are not found in nature. Planar metamaterials with subwavelength thickness, or metasurfaces, consisting of single-layer or few-layer stacks of planar structures, can be readily fabricated using lithography and nanoprinting methods, and the ultrathin thickness in the wave propagation direction can greatly suppress the undesirable losses. Metasurfaces enable a spatially varying optical…
- **[Dielectric gradient metasurface optical elements](https://space-kitty.com/papers/doi:10.1126/science.1253213)**. Dianmin Lin, Pengyu Fan, Erez Hasman et al. · 2014 · Science (doi:10.1126/science.1253213 · 2,369 citations). Source: <https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1253213>
- **[An Overview of the Theory and Applications of Metasurfaces: The Two-Dimensional Equivalents of Metamaterials](https://space-kitty.com/papers/doi:10.1109/map.2012.6230714)**. Christopher L. Holloway, Edward F. Kuester, Joshua A. Gordon et al. · 2012 · IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine (doi:10.1109/map.2012.6230714 · 2,344 citations). Source: <https://doi.org/10.1109/map.2012.6230714>
- **[Asymmetric Metasurfaces with High- Q Resonances Governed by Bound States in the Continuum](https://space-kitty.com/papers/arxiv:1809.00330)**. Kirill Koshelev, Sergey Lepeshov, Mingkai Liu et al. · 2018 · Physical Review Letters (arXiv:1809.00330 · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.121.193903 · 2,139 citations). Source: <https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.121.193903>
  > We reveal that metasurfaces created by seemingly different lattices of (dielectric or metallic) meta-atoms with broken in-plane symmetry can support sharp high-$Q$ resonances that originate from the physics of bound states in the continuum. We prove rigorously a direct link between the bound states in the continuum and the Fano resonances, and develop a general theory of such metasurfaces, suggesting the way for smart engineering of resonances for many applications in nanophotonics and meta-optics.
- **[Fano resonances in photonics](https://space-kitty.com/papers/doi:10.1038/nphoton.2017.142)**. Михаил Феликсович Лимонов, Михаил Валерьевич Рыбин, Alexander N. Poddubny et al. · 2017 · Nature Photonics (doi:10.1038/nphoton.2017.142 · 1,987 citations). Source: <https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2017.142>
- **[All-dielectric metamaterials](https://space-kitty.com/papers/doi:10.1038/nnano.2015.304)**. Saman Jahani, Zubin Jacob · 2016 · Nature Nanotechnology (doi:10.1038/nnano.2015.304 · 1,975 citations). Source: <https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2015.304>
- **[Metasurface Polarization Optics: Independent Phase Control of Arbitrary Orthogonal States of Polarization](https://space-kitty.com/papers/doi:10.1103/physrevlett.118.113901)**. J. P. Balthasar Mueller, Noah A. Rubin, Robert Charles Devlin et al. · 2017 · Physical Review Letters (doi:10.1103/physrevlett.118.113901 · 1,781 citations). Source: <https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.118.113901>
- **[Aberration-Free Ultrathin Flat Lenses and Axicons at Telecom Wavelengths Based on Plasmonic Metasurfaces](https://space-kitty.com/papers/arxiv:1207.2194)**. Francesco Aieta, Patrice Genevet, Mikhail A. Kats et al. · 2012 · Nano Letters (arXiv:1207.2194 · doi:10.1021/nl302516v · 1,806 citations). Source: <https://doi.org/10.1021/nl302516v>
  > The concept of optical phase discontinuities is applied to the design and demonstration of aberration-free planar lenses and axicons, comprising a phased array of ultrathin subwavelength spaced optical antennas. The lenses and axicons consist of radial distributions of V-shaped nanoantennas that generate respectively spherical wavefronts and non-diffracting Bessel beams at telecom wavelengths. Simulations are also presented to show that our aberration-free designs are applicable to high numerical aperture lenses such as flat microscope objectives.
- **[Integrated photonics on thin-film lithium niobate](https://space-kitty.com/papers/arxiv:2102.11956)**. Di Zhu, Linbo Shao, Mengjie Yu et al. · 2021 · Adv. Opt. Photon. 13, 242-352 (2021) (arXiv:2102.11956 · doi:10.1364/aop.411024 · 1,513 citations). Source: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2102.11956>
  > Lithium niobate (LN), an outstanding and versatile material, has influenced our daily life for decades: from enabling high-speed optical communications that form the backbone of the Internet to realizing radio-frequency filtering used in our cell phones. This half-century-old material is currently embracing a revolution in thin-film LN integrated photonics. The success of manufacturing wafer-scale, high-quality, thin films of LN on insulator (LNOI), accompanied with breakthroughs in nanofabrication techniques, have made high-performance integrated nanophotonic components possible. With rapid d…

## Newest

- **[Symmetry-governed nonlinear metasurface simultaneously enhances circular dichroism, helicity purity, and Q-factor](https://space-kitty.com/papers/arxiv:2610.39565)**. Dmitrii Gromyko, Wenhe Jia, Chengfeng Pan et al. · 2026 (arXiv:2610.39565). Source: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.39565>
- **[A guide to enriched continuum modeling: advances on wave propagation in metamaterials through the relaxed micromorphic framework](https://space-kitty.com/papers/arxiv:2610.39836)**. Jendrik Voss, Svenja Hermann, Mohammad Sarhil et al. · 2026 (arXiv:2610.39836). Source: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.39836>
- **[Multistable nematic liquid crystal pores as reconfigurable optical vortex metasurfaces](https://space-kitty.com/papers/arxiv:2610.40123)**. Claire Doré, Brian Edwards, Nader Engheta et al. · 2026 (arXiv:2610.40123). Source: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.40123>
- **[Scale-free wave localization at topological multicriticality](https://space-kitty.com/papers/arxiv:2610.40125)**. Zhijie Xue, Yuan Tian, Nanyu Chen et al. · 2026 (arXiv:2610.40125). Source: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.40125>
- **[Temporal equivalent of the Sommerfeld half-plane problem](https://space-kitty.com/papers/arxiv:2610.40171)**. Asma Fallah, Shixiong Yin, Andrea Alù et al. · 2026 (arXiv:2610.40171). Source: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.40171>
- **[Converting a superseded Raith electron beam pattern generator into an unattended Critical Dimension SEM](https://space-kitty.com/papers/arxiv:2610.38203)**. Will Gunn, Han-Hao Cheng, Daniel Peace et al. · 2026 (arXiv:2610.38203). Source: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.38203>
- **[Maxwell's equations are universal for sparse linear algebra](https://space-kitty.com/papers/arxiv:2610.38913)**. Yannick Augenstein · 2026 (arXiv:2610.38913). Source: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.38913>
- **[Optically gated transduction enables silicon electrical readout of mid-infrared light](https://space-kitty.com/papers/arxiv:2610.36475)**. Shutao Zhang, Jiaqing Shen, Chongwu Wang et al. · 2026 (arXiv:2610.36475). Source: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.36475>
- **[Wavefunction-templated metamaterials](https://space-kitty.com/papers/arxiv:2610.37248)**. Yutao Chen, Tao Xiao, Jing Li et al. · 2026 (arXiv:2610.37248). Source: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.37248>
- **[Rubidium-Referenced Frequency-Doubled Pockels Laser with High-Speed Electro-Optic Tuning](https://space-kitty.com/papers/arxiv:2610.37279)**. Xu Chen, Michael Li, Xiaodong Shi et al. · 2026 (arXiv:2610.37279). Source: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.37279>
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