Modal contrast engineering in ultraviolet and visible metalenses enabled by material-selective hybridization

Metasurfaces enable ultrathin optics through nanoscale light control, yet extending high-efficiency operation from the ultraviolet (UV) to visible has been constrained by material and design limitations. Here, we present a material-selective hybrid metalens platform in which a structurally invariant SiO2 skeleton is conformally coated with nanometer-thick oxide layers, producing high-efficiency metalenses in distinct spectral windows without geometric modification. Low-temperature atomic layer annealing at 80 °C crystallizes TiO2 to raise its refractive index for visible operation while preserving amorphous ZrO2 for UV transparency. Ultrathin coatings establish the modal birefringence required for polarization conversion, yielding average efficiencies of 69% (250–400 nm) and 75% (400–700 nm), with diffraction-limited focusing across the bandwidth. We demonstrate a compact real-scene UV camera revealing sunscreen coverage, authentication markers, and biological structures for dermatology, materials inspection, and forensics, alongside a lightweight full-color virtual-reality eyepiece. These results establish hybrid metasurfaces as scalable, manufacturing-compatible alternatives to bulky refractive optics. The authors present a material-selective hybrid metalens which produces high-efficiency performance in distinct spectral windows without geometric modification. The work establishes hybrid metsurfaces as a manufacturing-compatible alternative to bulk refractive optics.