Dispersion-engineered meta-coverslip for multimodal synthetic imaging

Abstract

Multimodal optical imaging provides comprehensive sample characterization but has traditionally been hindered by complex and bulky instrumentation. Here, we propose a dispersion-engineered meta-coverslip to seamlessly integrate bright-field, differential, fluorescence, and holographic imaging modalities within a standard microscope architecture, requiring no hardware modification or realignment. The meta-coverslip utilizes a scalable subwavelength multilayer film to engineer spatio-temporal dispersion for a customized high-dimensional transfer function. As an example, we demonstrate flexible switching among the four imaging modalities by simply tuning the illumination wavelengths. Lastly, we demonstrate that the synthesis of multimodal images can provide spatially registered structural and molecular information for more comprehensive biological analysis. Our approach provides an accessible, scalable, and flexible solution for advanced imaging and is extensible to other multiplexed optical systems in sensing and computing.