This schematic shows a novel technique to reshape the properties of an ultrafast light pulse. An incoming pulse of light (left) is dispersed into its various constituent frequencies, or colors, and directed into a metasurface composed of millions of tiny silicon pillars and an integrated polarizer. The nanopillars are specifically designed to simultaneously and independently shape such properties of each frequency component as its amplitude, phase or polarization. The transmitted beam is then recombined to achieve a new shape-modified pulse (right).
