Disordered Optics: Exploiting Multiple Light Scattering and Wavefront Shaping for Nonconventional Optical Elements

Abstract

Advances in diverse areas such as inspection, imaging, manufacturing, telecommunications, and information processing have been stimulated by novel optical devices. Conventional material ingredients for these devices are typically made of homogeneous refractive or diffractive materials and require sophisticated design and fabrication, which results in practical limitations related to their form and functional figures of merit. To overcome such limitations, recent developments in the application of disordered materials as novel optical elements have indicated great potential in enabling functionalities that go beyond their conventional counterparts, while the materials exhibit potential advantages with respect to reduced form factors. Combined with wavefront shaping, disordered materials enable dynamic transitions between multiple functionalities in a single active optical device. Recent progress in this field is summarized to gain insight into the physical principles behind disordered optics with regard to their advantages in various applications as well as their limitations compared to conventional optics.