2026/07/23 by Zhonglin Li, Yingying Wang, Jiawei Kang +3
Physics and Astronomy · #physics.optics #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
Reconfigurable analog optical computing requires rapid and efficient switching between core mathematical operations, such as first- and second-order spatial differentiation. Here, we demonstrate a monolayer MoS2 integrated a planar Fabry-Pérot (F-P) cavity that performs polarization switchable analog spatial differentiation under oblique incidence. By exploiting polarization dependent phase singularities, the device satisfies distinct optical transfer functions for different-order differentiation at the same operating condition. As a result, first-order and second-order derivatives of input images are experimentally realized by simply switching the incident polarization. These results establish the planar cavity as a compact reconfigurable spatial differentiator, whose computational order is controlled solely by light polarization. This approach provides a fast, convenient, and integration friendly strategy for tunable optical computing, and enables polarization switchable edge detection for image processing, with potential applications in real-time object recognition, feature extraction, and optical data compression.