Inverse-designed metastructures that solve equations

Abstract

Solving equations with waves Signal processing of light waves can be used to represent certain mathematical functions and to perform computational tasks on signals or images in an analog fashion. Such processing typically requires complex systems of bulk optical elements such as lenses, filters, and mirrors. Mohammadi Estakhri et al. demonstrate that specially designed nanophotonic structures can take input waveforms encoded as complex mathematical functions, manipulate them, and provide an output that is the integral of the functions. The results, demonstrated for microwaves, provide a route to develop chip-based analog optical computers and computing elements. Science , this issue p. 1333