The year 2024 marked a significant milestone for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS) as we completed the first half of the Centre’s journey and successfully passed our mid-term review. All TMOS personnel worked together as a cohesive team to highlight and elaborate on these accomplishments.

Before we discuss the details, I want to thank two executive team members who have left the Centre to pursue further career opportunities. Our founding Chief Investigator (CI), Professor Francesca Iacopi, Chair of the Industry Liaison Committee and Head of Integrated Nano Systems Lab at UTS, has been appointed Director of IMEC’s semiconductor R&D site in Indiana, USA. With this new role, Francesca will oversee the site’s operations and establish its strategic vision for growth and impact. We sincerely thank Francesca for her outstanding contributions to TMOS over the past four years and wish her every success in her new endeavours in the USA. We also acknowledge the departure of Sharyn McFarlane, our Chief Operations Officer, who led the Centre’s entire operations throughout 2024. Sharyn devoted enormous effort and significant knowledge to guide the Centre through its mid-term review, achieving excellent performance and recognition for the Centre. We thank Sharyn for her remarkable efforts and professionalism in managing TMOS operations and wish her the best as she returns to the Australian Research Council.

Excellence And High Achievements

2024 was a busy year for the Centre, marked by numerous exciting scientific highlights and notable personal recognitions. TMOS members received numerous awards for their work. Shaban Sulejman (University of Melbourne) was awarded the Australian and New Zealand Optical Society (ANZOS) Postgraduate Research Prize for his “outstanding research focused on designing optical metasurfaces for imaging applications such as phase imaging of transparent biological samples and multi-modal microscopy.” Dr. Rocio Camacho Morales (Australian National University) was 1 3 2 4 5 Researcher Prize for her “research which focuses on nonlinear optical metasurfaces and their application for conversion enhancement and imaging capabilities.” We take great pride in these emerging talents of TMOS and wish them success in their future endeavours. The full list of prizes and awards can be found at the end of the report. Congratulations to all. The research output of the Centre was presented in over 110 scientific publications, with 22% published in top-tier scientific journals. TMOS researchers co-authored papers in some of the world’s leading journals, including Nature (634, 1096), Nature Materials (23, 1379), and Nature Photonics (18, 309). Importantly, this year we have seen a dramatic increase in collaborative projects across our five nodes and with partner investigators. In July, TMOS students and ECRs convened for their conference at RMIT University. Moreover, TMOS students took a prominent leadership role at the 15th KOALA Student Conference on Optics, Atoms, and Laser Applications in November, where they set a new attendance 6 TMOS 2024 ANNUAL REPORT awarded the ANZOS Geoff Opat Early Career record. Finally, we wrapped up the year with 4 From foundations to frontiers SECTION 1 3 2 4 5 the TMOS Meta-Together Conference 2024, which provided three days filled with science, networking, and skills development, all set against the stunning backdrop of Scarborough Beach in Western Australia.

Translation Built Upon Fundamental Science And Innovation

As we transition into the second half of the Centre, we observe several fundamental projects maturing and poised to deliver a real-world impact. In recognition of this translational development, TMOS has instituted an integrated research program, culminating in the newly established TMOS Flagship Program. The TMOS Flagship Program centres on the development of cross-node, high-technology readiness Level (TRL) meta-optics research projects that exhibit clear market appeal. To concentrate resources and provide optimal support for translation and impact, three programs were chosen: Advanced Quantum Technologies, Meta Health Sensors, and Enhanced Infrared Vision. These programs are overseen by Flagship Program Managers, who facilitate the transition of projects from fundamental to applied research and, consequently, outline the path for translation and future commercialisation. Additionally, these projects are actively promoted to foster industry engagement and the adoption of technology. To date, we are proud to witness the uptake of TMOS technology through targeted hires in sectors leveraging our innovations, including the appointment of Dr. Andrei Komar at Seeing Machines, Australia, and Dr. Neuton Li at Meta, USA.

International Development

The field of meta-optics is expanding rapidly, significantly influencing related areas. Meta-optics has created new opportunities in sectors such as quantum technologies, enabling robust and programmable modifications of single-photon emitters, quantum imaging, and communications. It has also unlocked vital opportunities for innovative photonic neural networks and optical computing. TMOS has dedicated resources to these new advancements through related educational colloquia, set to begin in 2025. Additionally, there is immense interest in applying meta-optical systems to groundbreaking augmented reality (AR) technologies and space applications. TMOS is proactively collaborating with industries in these fields to maximise the impact of our fundamental science. We are also witnessing remarkable advancements in the use of meta-optics for medical imaging and diagnostics. Examples include the work from our Melbourne node in novel multi-modal microscopy, which could enhance the accuracy of tumour detection and classification. An exciting new development in this area was presented by Prof. Mark Brongersma (Stanford University) at the 2024 TMOS Annual Conference. Mark, a member of the TMOS International Scientific Advisory Committee, captured our team’s imagination by demonstrating the ability to render biological tissue transparent through controlling its scattering with composite materials. I believe that the limit to the opportunities is only our imagination.

Actions And Initiatives For 2025

The Centre’s actions for 2025 will be largely driven by the recommendations from the ARC detailed in our mid-term report. More details on these can be found later in our report. However, two actions stand out. The first step is to undertake a strategic planning of the Centre’s activities, enabling TMOS to deliver maximum impact. The second one is to “maintain strong basic science effort”. The latter one is of utmost importance as fundamental science is the foundation for innovation and long-term economic prosperity. At TMOS, we fully embrace this value. I am incredibly enthusiastic about our potential achievements in 2025. I look forward to collaborating with the TMOS team to ensure that our research receives the utmost recognition and has a significant impact on both the Australian industry and the global community. Prof. Dragomir Neshev Centre Director

Prof. Dragomir Neshev, Centre Director