Fig. 1: Working principle of all-dielectric Schrödinger colour.

a Schematic diagram of the metasurface-based structural colours. Top inset shows the in-plane structures and size parameters. The tilt-view image of the nanopillar is shown in bottom inset. Dimensions within the plane are scaled proportionally with a parameter S to realize different colours. The thicknesses in all-simulation are fixed at h₁ = 13 nm, h₂ = 54 nm, h₃ = 256 nm and h₄ = 110 nm. b Numerically calculated x-polarized reflection spectrum of the metasurface. Inset shows the corresponding coordinates in CIE 1931 chromaticity diagram. An ideal Schrödinger pixel is also presented for a direct comparison. c Mode decomposition of the reflection spectrum. Two resonances at 508 nm and 520 nm and a weak uncoupled field caused by the interfaces are involved. d The relative phase differences between two modes and the uncoupled fields. e–h shows the vectorial sum of decomposed fields at 450 nm, 508 nm, 520 nm, and 600 nm, respectively. Insets in (f) and (g) are the corresponding Fano shapes induced by the interaction between two modes.