VCSEL–Metasurface OAM Transmitters for High-Capacity Optical Wireless Links

Light beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) offer an additional degree of freedom of light, enabling advances in microscopy, holographic imaging, quantum photonics, and high-speed optical communications. However, OAM transmitters at telecom wavelengths are constrained by bulky free-space optics, high-power lasers, and complex configurations that hinder scalable and low-cost integration. Metasurfaces offer efficient generation and manipulation of OAM beams within ultrathin formats. Here, we demonstrate the first hybrid vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) integration with a dielectric metasurface at the 1310 nm telecommunications band for optical wireless communication. This platform combines the scalability, low power consumption, and high modulation bandwidth of VCSELs with the wavefront-shaping capabilities of metasurfaces, resulting in high-quality OAM beams within a compact chip-scale device. Experimental validation at 1310 nm, together with dual-band operation at 1550 nm and broadband scalability supported by simulations, establishes VCSEL–metasurface hybrids as a CMOS-compatible step toward fully integrated OAM emitters. By bridging semiconductor lasers with flat optics, our approach provides a practical path to low-power, cost-effective sources for high-capacity optical wireless links in future communication networks.