Metasurface-enabled astronomical polarimetry

In the past decade or so, metasurface optical components have received considerable scientific and industrial interest. The miniaturization afforded by metasurfaces could benefit astronomy in particular, which is an often-cited potential application area for metasurfaces. However, few developed examples in which metasurface components offer a unique benefit to astronomical instrumentation—substantiated by the production of scientific data—have been shown. Here, we present the Solar Imaging Metasurface Polarimeter (SIMPol), a first-of-its-kind telescope for snapshot imaging polarimetry of the sun enabled by a high-performance metasurface polarization-analyzing grating, which provides for single element, snapshot imaging polarimetry. We demonstrate SIMPol’s integration into a major observatory telescope facility and the characterization of Zeeman signatures of solar magnetism. This work—among the first to demonstrate an advantage presented by metasurface optics to a real application in astronomical instrumentation—heralds the application of metasurfaces and emergent nanophotonic technologies in astronomy more broadly.