Compact Structured Light Generation and Depth Perception from Integration of Metasurface and PCSEL

We demonstrate a novel depth sensing system that utilizes metasurfaces and photonic crystal surface-emitting lasers (PCSELs), realizing structured light generation and facial recognition in monocular depth sensing. Our single-shot system projects approximately 45,700 infrared spots from an about 300^2 μm^2 metasurface area, which is 233 times smaller than the commercial diffractive optical element (DOE) based dot projector used in the Face ID on iPhone. The system is lens-free and power consumption due to the utilization of PCSEL, reducing 5-10 times of power compared to dot projectors based on vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array. Our proposed system addresses the limitations of traditional structured light depth sensing technology, offering significant advantages in terms of size, power consumption, and potential for integration into wearable devices.