2025/11/17 by Feng Chong, Tiancheng Zhang, Chong, Faqian +13
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Metamaterials and Metasurfaces Applications #Optics (physics.optics) #Orbital Angular Momentum in Optics #Plasmonic and Surface Plasmon Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2511.12918
openalex publication_date 2025/11/17 · openalex created_date 2025/11/19 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Integrated photonics is increasingly demanded in applications such as large-scale data centers, intelligent sensing, and next-generation wireless communications, where compact, multifunctional, and energy-efficient components are essential. Inverse-designed photonics, empowered by optimization and learning algorithms, have emerged as a powerful paradigm for realizing compact and multifunctional integrated photonic components. In this work, we develop a staged-annealing topological optimization (SATO) framework tailored for the design of integrated terahertz (THz) beam-shaping devices. Employing this inverse-designed framework, we experimentally demonstrate a class of compact THz vortex beam emitters on an all-silicon on-chip platform. These devices efficiently convert the in-plane fundamental transverse electric (TE) waveguide mode into free-space vortex beams with mode purity up to 87% and energy conversion efficiency up to 74% across the target wavelength range (680 μm to 720 μm). The inverse-designed emitters exhibit ultracompact footprints (lateral size < 4λ) and a free-standing configuration, enabling the generation of dual-directional vortex beams carrying opposite topological charges. The proposed SATO framework provides a generalizable and fabrication-compatible approach for THz photonic device engineering, offering a scalable pathway toward complex structured beam manipulation in next-generation wireless communication systems and on-chip integrated THz photonic systems.