# Inverse Design of Diffractive Metasurfaces Using Diffusion Models

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.21748 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.21748/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Flow matching, time series and science, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models.
- Builds on 12 of its 34 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 26 Jun 2025.

## Placed in

- Diffusion models / [Flow matching, time series and science](https://mlsanity.com/diffusion/flow-matching-time-series-and-science/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 12 of 12)

- [Adam: A Method for Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6980/) (2014)
- [U-Net: Convolutional Networks for Biomedical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1505.04597/) (2015)
- [Denoising Diffusion Implicit Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.02502/) (2020)
- [Score-Based Generative Modeling through Stochastic Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.13456/) (2020)
- [Diffusion Models Beat GANs on Image Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.05233/) (2021)
- [Classifier-Free Diffusion Guidance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.12598/) (2022)
- [Elucidating the Design Space of Diffusion-Based Generative Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.00364/) (2022)
- [Improved Training of Wasserstein GANs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.00028/) (2017)
- [Conditional Generative Adversarial Nets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1411.1784/) (2014)
- [Diffusion Posterior Sampling for General Noisy Inverse Problems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.14687/) (2022)
- [Diffusion Models Beat GANs on Topology Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.09591/) (2022)
- [Diffusion Probabilistic Model Based Accurate and High-Degree-of-Freedom Metasurface Inverse Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.13038/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Friction on Demand: A Generative Framework for the Inverse Design of Metainterfaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.03735/) (2025)
- [Two-Stage Deformable-Convolutional Inverse Design of Nanophotonic Absorbers from Optical Spectra](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.11860/) (2026)
- [Physics-Augmented Graph Transformers for Patch-Antenna Forward and Inverse Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.05004/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Metasurfaces are ultra-thin optical elements composed of engineered sub-wavelength structures that enable precise control of light. Their inverse design - determining a geometry that yields a desired optical response - is challenging due to the complex, nonlinear relationship between structure and optical properties. This often requires expert tuning, is prone to local minima, and involves significant computational overhead. In this work, we address these challenges by integrating the generative capabilities of diffusion models into computational design workflows. Using an RCWA simulator, we generate training data consisting of metasurface geometries and their corresponding far-field scattering patterns. We then train a conditional diffusion model to predict meta-atom geometry and height from a target spatial power distribution at a specified wavelength, sampled from a continuous supported band. Once trained, the model can generate metasurfaces with low error, either directly using RCWA-guided posterior sampling or by serving as an initializer for traditional optimization methods. We demonstrate our approach on the design of a spatially uniform intensity splitter and a polarization beam splitter, both produced with low error in under 30 minutes. To support further research in data-driven metasurface design, we publicly release our code and datasets.