Feedback-free programmable optical torques enabled by spin-orbit-engineered metasurfaces

Feedback-free programmable optical torques enabled by spin-orbit-engineered metasurfaces | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Feedback-free programmable optical torques enabled by spin-orbit-engineered metasurfaces Xiangang Luo, Fei Zhang, Siran Chen, Anbin Du, Mingbo Pu, Lianwei Chen, and 7 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8337896/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Programmable optical torque is essential for advanced optical manipulation, yet existing approaches rely on feedback-driven, time-varying optical fields, introducing complexity and limiting scalability. Here, we introduce a new concept of freeform optical torques enabled by metasurfaces, and experimentally demonstrate their feedback-free, programmable control with flexibly shaped rotational-angle dependence, overcoming the long-standing limitation of torque functions confined to constant or sinusoidal forms. This capability arises from converting the temporal degree of control into a spatial one, realized through the interaction between temporally static vector optical fields and spin-orbit-engineered metasurfaces. To characterize these optical torque functions, we developed a torsion-balance system operating near the thermal noise limit. The system achieves high sensitivity of 0.22 fNm·Hz^-0.5 for macroscopic samples and enables direct measurement of fNm-level optical angle-torque functions that were previously unresolvable. This strategy provides unprecedented freedom in optical torque control, enabling passive, all-optical attitude and rotational motion control with broad implications from microscale robotics to macroscopic lightsails. Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical techniques/Optical manipulation and tweezers Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical physics/Sub-wavelength optics Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SMNP.docx SUPPLEMENTARY AND ADDITIONAL MATERIAL Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8337896","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":568152375,"identity":"54c2f4e5-0ab7-4c7f-b9d3-3ae433dd625f","order_by":0,"name":"Xiangang 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