Full-color nanorouter for high-resolution imaging

Pixel scaling effects have been a major issue for the development of high-resolution color image sensors due to the reduced photoelectric signal and the color crosstalk. Various structural color techniques have been proposed and demonstrated the large freedom in color manipulation by the structure design. However, the optical efficiency and the color distortion limit the practical applications due to its intrinsic filtering mechanism. Instead, on-chip full-color routing is quite charming for improving the signal-to-noise ratio. In this paper, a single-layer quick response code like nanorouter is proposed for the full-color light routing in a pixel level of image sensors. It shows much higher routing efficiency than various planar lens schemes for signal wavelength focusing. Moreover, over 60% signal enhancement with robust polarization insensitivity is obtained in all three primary color bands with a same nanorouter by a multi-objective optimization method. Negligible color distortion is observed from the reconstructed color image. Such a simple nanorouter structure is promising for the development of image sensor, photovoltaics and display.