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Modern nanotechnology demands advanced microscopy with ever finer resolution and detectivity of both explicit and inexplicit features of matter. While typical optical microscopy can only directly observe diffraction-limited sample appearance, a plethora of novel techniques has been presented to interrogate intrinsic nature of matter in super-resolution. In particular, the photo-induced force microscopy (PiFM) attracts intense interest from the optical community due to its unique optical force detection mechanism. Recent works of PiFM suggest that, combined with structured light illumination, the so-called system of structured light-induced force microscopy (SLiFM) can characterize conventionally elusive matter properties with fidelity. In this review, we discuss the origin and state-of-art trend of the SLiFM, including the following sections: 1) the principle of PiFM and how it detects optical forces; 2) the fundamental physics of structured light beams; 3) the fundamental physics of structured light-structured matter interaction; 4) the relation between optical force and local electromagnetic fields. Lastly, we highlight the future industrial and academic inspirational applications of SLiFM in the characterization and manipulation of opto-magnetism and chirality, etc.

Silicon (Si)-based geometric phase metasurfaces are fantastic state-of-the-art light field manipulators. While the optical metasurfaces generally excel in the micro-control of light with supreme accuracy and flexibility, the geometric phase principle grants them the much-desired broadband phase manipulation property, free from material dispersion. Furthermore, adopting Si as their fundamental material serves as a critical step toward applicable practice. Thanks to the optical lossless feature and CMOS compatibility, Si-based metasurfaces are bestowed with high efficiency and fabrication conveniency. As a result, the Si-based metasurfaces can be perfectly integrated into Si-based optoelectronic chips with on-demand functions, trending to replace the conventional bulky and insufficient macroscopic optical devices. Here we review the origin, physical characteristics, and recent development of Si-based geometric-phase metasurfaces, especially underscoring their important achievements in broadband, high efficiency, and multitasking functionalities. Lastly, we envision their typical potential applications that can be realized in the near future.