Metasurface-enabled astronomical polarimetry
2026-06-10
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.