Optical Propulsion and Levitation of Metajets

The quintessential hallmark distinguishing metasurfaces from traditional optical components is the engineering of subwavelength meta-atoms to manipulate light at will. Enabling this freedom, in a reverse manner, to control objects constituted by metasurfaces could expand our capability of optical manipulation to go beyond the predominant microscopic and sub-microscopic scales. Here, we introduce a driving metaphotonic force fully controllable by meta-atoms to manipulate structured objects named metajets. Upon Newton's law of motion that can apply to classical and relativistic mechanics, we develop a first-principles theory to analyze optical forces generated by refraction and reflection at an interface. We find that three-dimensional motions of metajets would be possible if one could introduce an extra wavevector component. We achieve that by creating a spatially distributed phase gradient with deliberately arranged silicon nanopillars. Our experiments and simulations reveal an in-plane propulsion and, very importantly, out-of-plane levitation of the metajets, aligning well with the theory. We also find that the metaphotonic force augments with increased light power but is not limited by the size of metajets, which could unleash new opportunities for metaphotonic control in large settings, such as interstellar light sails.