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arXiv · 2512.16471

An epsilon-near-zero-based nonlinear platform for ultrafast re-writable holography

M. Zahirul Alam·Robert Fickler·Yiyu Zhou·Enno Giese·Jeremy Upham·Robert W. Boyd
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Abstract

We re-examine real-time holography for all-optical structuring of light and optical computation using a contemporary material: a subwavelength-thick, spatially unstructured film of indium tin oxide (ITO). When excited by spatially structured light at epsilon-near-zero frequencies, the film acts as an efficient and reconfigurable diffractive optical platform for all-optical modulation of light such as spatial structuring and optical computations. We demonstrate a few percent of absolute diffraction efficiency over greater than 300 nm bandwidth around telecom wavelengths using a film four orders of magnitude thinner than and up to six orders of magnitude faster than standard holographic materials. Our findings highlight the potential of using epsilon-near-zero-based nanostructures for efficient modulation of spatially structured light and rapid prototyping without complex nanofabrication processes.

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M. Zahirul Alam, Robert Fickler, Yiyu Zhou, Enno Giese, Jeremy Upham, Robert W. Boyd. 2025-12-18. An epsilon-near-zero-based nonlinear platform for ultrafast re-writable holography. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.16471

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