Meta-grating-lens–based monolithic polarization camera

Li et al., Sci. Adv. 11, eadx9886 (2025) 24 October 2025 S c i e n c e A d va n c e s | R e s e a r c h A r t i c l e 1 of 11 O P T I C S Meta-­grating-­lens–based monolithic polarization camera Feng-­Jun Li1†, Ziwei Feng1†, Zhou Wan1, Tan Shi2, Shanfeng Qiu2, Jun-­Hao Zeng1, Shichao Song1, Sicong Wang1, Zi-­Lan Deng1*, Xiangping Li1* Polarization imaging has the powerful ability to detect unique features invisible to human eyes, which is challeng- ing for conventional intensity imaging systems. Metasurface emerges as a transformative platform for compact polarization imaging systems, but prior strategies suffer from limited imaging field-­of-­view (FOV) and coarse-­ grained polarization pixels. Here, we demonstrate a meta-­grating-­lens (MGL)–based monolithic polarization cam- era achieving 14° FOV and real-­time full-­Stokes polarization imaging in the near-­infrared region. The optimized MGL exhibits >60% focusing efficiency with <3% zeroth-­order noise, enabling simultaneous polarization analysis, beam-­splitting, and imaging functionalities in a fine-­grained pixel level. This synergistic design enables both effi- cient light utilization and accurate polarization reconstruction. The proposed polarization camera has the poten- tial to unlock wide range of applications including autonomous navigation, biomedical diagnostics, and even compact Muller matrix imaging systems. INTRODUCTION Conventional imaging systems are primarily designed to capture the reflective or transmitted light intensity of the objects. Beyond intensity information, the polarization states of light, which is bare- ly sensed by human eyes, could provide additional insights to reveal the surface texture, roughness, and even the three-­dimensional (3D) profile of objects. These unique features are crucial for a wide range of applications, such as low-­contrast target detection (1), biomicroscopy (2), 3D imaging (3), and advanced astronomical observations (4). Over the past decades, four typical polarization imaging meth- ods, including division-­of-­time (DoT) (5, 6), division-­of-­focal-­plane (DoFP), division-­of-­amplitude (DoA) (7–10), and division-­of-­ aperture (DoAP) (11, 12) strategies, have been widely studied to capture polarization information using cascaded imaging lenses, wave plates, beam splitters, and polarization analyzers in a bulky optical system. In the DoT approach, polarization analyzing are per- formed by rotating polarizing elements or filter wheels sequentially to capture images of different polarization components. In contrast, the DoFP method integrates a micropolarizer array onto the imag- ing sensor using multiple neighboring imaging pixels to analyze im- ages for a well-­designed polarization basis with a snapshot imaging mode. In addition, the DoA approach use beam splitters and cas- caded polarization analyzers to simultaneously collect multiple polarization images on an image sensor. As for the DoAP method, the polarization imaging is detected by multiple cameras placed behind different polarization elements. While those classical po- larization imaging techniques have made notable achievements, their reliance on bulky optical elements and natural anisotropic materials makes it hard for system miniaturization and integra- tion into chip scale. Given the growing demand for spatially varying polarization information capture in real-­world applications, the de- velopment of snapshot and compact polarization imaging system is highly desirable. Recent advances in metasurface-­based polarization manipulat- ing systems have demonstrated revolutionary potential in replac- ing conventional bulky configurations through the integration of polarization-­sensitive functionalities into ultracompact platforms (13–23). One of particular interest are snapshot polarization imag- ing schemes that enable single-­shot acquisition of full-­Stokes pa- rameters, offering critical advantages for real-­time dynamic s