Efficient Focusing with Large Numerical Aperture Using a Hybrid Metalens

Focusing light using electrically thin layers is of paramount importance in several applications, from integrated optics to microwave engineering and sensing. Recently, gradient metasurfaces, which are electrically thin arrays of densely located polarizable particles, have been employed to perform different wave-front transformations, including focusing. In comparison to a bulk lens, these designs provide ultrathin geometries, but they suffer from fundamental limitations on their overall efficiency and achievable numerical aperture. Metagratings offer a solution for efficient beam steering at large angles, but it is challenging to utilize them in the small-angle limit. Here, we introduce a hybrid metalens design, which provides dramatic enhancement in lensing performance compared with that of state-of-the-art metasurfaces, combining metagratings and conventional gradient approaches. Our experimental prototype enables microwave focusing with large efficiency (η=0.479) and near-unity numerical aperture (NA=0.98), yielding a sharp focal point at the diffraction limit in the far field (FWHM=0.332λ). We propose a hybrid metalens design with exceptional performance in terms of efficiency and numerical aperture, opening up opportunities for high-throughput optical lithography, high-density data recording, focal plane arrays, radar, and communication systems.