A research team led by Prof. Pei-Nan Ni and Prof. Chong-Xin Shan from Zhengzhou University, in collaboration with the team of Prof. Zhi-Peng Wei from Changchun University of Science and Technology, has addressed a key bottleneck in conventional solar-blind ultraviolet free-space optical (FSO) communication systems. Such systems typically rely on bulky and heavy refractive optical components, making miniaturized deployment difficult and thereby limiting their practical use in complex non-line-of-sight environments. To overcome this challenge, the researchers proposed and developed a compact and multifunctional communication platform based on diamond metasurfaces.

The platform integrates wide-bandgap semiconductor photodetectors with diamond metasurfaces featuring excellent ultraviolet transparency. By taking advantage of the unique capability of metasurfaces to independently and simultaneously manipulate the phase distribution and polarization state of solar-blind ultraviolet light, the researchers constructed an efficient optical communication system in which information is encoded and transmitted using high-dimensional physical states of light, including multiple polarization channels and phase modes. Specifically, subwavelength structural arrays were employed to reshape the incident ultraviolet wavefront and achieve polarization diversity. This approach not only significantly enhanced the effective photoresponsivity of the detector, but also enabled polarization-selective signal reception and polarization-multiplexed multichannel parallel communication.

Experimental results demonstrate that the system overcomes the size limitations of conventional optical devices while fully exploiting the inherent advantages of the solar-blind spectral region, including low solar background radiation and strong atmospheric scattering. It therefore provides a feasible route toward secure and low-noise communication over non-line-of-sight links. This work establishes an important technological foundation for the development of miniaturized, lightweight, and harsh-environment-resistant solar-blind ultraviolet FSO systems, and highlights their broad potential for practical applications such as secure military communications, emergency communication networks for disaster response, and unmanned aerial vehicle formations. The research was published in Laser & Photonics Reviews on July 5, 2026, under the title“High-Dimensional Solar-Blind Ultraviolet Communication Enabled by Diamond Metasurfaces.”