METAsurfaces for ultraFAst light STructuring (METAFAST)
The METAFAST project aims to develop a novel class of synthetic nonlinear optical materials, or metamaterials, as a disruptive platform enabling unprecedented ultrafast dynamical control over polarization and wavefront of light. In particular, we will develop ultracompact all-optical modulators capable of faster than ever structuring of the spin and orbital angular momentum (SOAM) of light beams. Such ultrafast optical modulation offers an exceptionally robust method for the encoding of digital information in free space optical links, being also resistant to eavesdropping thanks to topological protection.