Atomic metasurfaces for manipulation of single photons

Abstract: Metasurfaces are an emerging platform for manipulating light on a two-dimensional plane. Existing metasurfaces comprise arrays of optical resonators such as plasmonic antennas or high-index nanorods. In this letter, we describe a new approach to realize metasurfaces based on electronic transitions in two-level systems (TLSs). These metasurfaces can reproduce all of the major results in conventional metasurfaces. In addition, since TLSs can be lossless, tunable, and orders of magnitude smaller than optical resonators, atomic metasurfaces can realize functions that are difficult to achieve with optical resonators. Specifically, we develop quantum scattering theory to describe the interaction between single photons and atomic metasurfaces. Based on the theory, we use a sheet of three-level {\Lambda}-type atoms as an example and theoretically demonstrate dynamically tunable single-photon steering. We further show directional beaming of spontaneously emitted photons from atomic metasurfaces.