Magneto-optical hologram lens with microsecond focal switching in magnetic garnet

Active lenses based on metasurfaces have been demonstrated across broad applications, and their response speeds remain limited to the microsecond range.

Here we report the experimental demonstration of a magneto-optical (MO) active lens based on a magnetic hologram formed on a magnetic garnet film.

A Fresnel zone plate pattern was created using an array of permanent magnets, focusing a 633 nm laser beam of 12.5 mm diameter to a spot size of 0.7 mm at a focal length of 3.1 m with a modulation depth of ~91%.

The focusing state was reversibly switched by applying an external magnetic field pulse.

Through optimization of the magnetic field application system, a switching speed of 10.8 $\mu$s was achieved, surpassing the operating speeds of conventional active lenses.

The intrinsic picosecond-scale response of the MO effect indicates that further improvement in switching speed is achievable, establishing this work as a proof-of-concept for ultra-fast active lenses.