Ultra-thin camera lenses of the future could see the light of day

Date:
June 11, 2020
Source:
Chalmers University of Technology
Summary:
In the future, camera lenses could be thousands of times thinner and
significantly less resource-intensive to manufacture. Researchers
now present a new technology for making the artificial materials
known as 'metasurfaces', which consist of a multitude of interacting
nanoparticles that together can control light. They could have
great use in the optical technology of tomorrow.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
In the future, camera lenses could be thousands of times thinner and significantly less resource-intensive to manufacture. Researchers from
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, now present a new technology
for making the artificial materials known as 'metasurfaces', which consist
of a multitude of interacting nanoparticles that together can control
light. They could have great use in the optical technology of tomorrow.


========================================================================== Metasurfaces can be used for optical components in portable electronics, sensors, cameras or space satellites. The Chalmers researchers' new
technology for making such planar surfaces is based on a plastic that
is already used today to create other microstructures.

"We put a thin layer of this plastic on a glass plate and, using a well- established technique called electron-beam lithography, we can draw
detailed patterns in the plastic film, which after development will
form the metasurface. The resulting device can focus light just like a
normal camera lens, but it is thousands of times thinner -- and can be
flexible too," says Daniel Andre'n, a PhD student at the Department of
Physics at Chalmers and first author of the scientific article recently published in the journal ACS Photonics.

Over the past ten years, there has been a revolution in optics. The
phones in our pockets have cameras comparable to a DSLR -- technological masterpieces with millions of pixels of resolution. They process light
with small advanced computer chips and software, and the image is
recreated with the help of small coloured LEDs. These technologies have developed extremely rapidly in recent years, due mainly to smaller and
more effective circuit components.

However, camera lenses themselves have not changed as much. The majority
of today's lenses are based on the same physical principles, and include
the same basic limitations, as the first prototypes invented in the
sixteenth century.

In the past decade, however, researchers have begun to work with
artificial materials -- metasurfaces -- that could replace today's lenses.

Currently, certain issues stand in the way of large-scale manufacturing
of metasurfaces. Advanced equipment is required to manufacture them,
and the process is also very time-consuming. But using the Chalmers researchers' new method, the production rate can be increased several
times compared to current state-of-the-art techniques. The new technology
uses harmless chemicals, as well as machines that are already common
in nano-manufacturing laboratories today, meaning that more researchers
could now begin to study metasurfaces.

"Our method could be a step towards large-scale production of
metasurfaces.

That is the goal we are already working towards today. Metasurfaces
can help us create different effects and offer various technological possibilities. The best is yet to come," says Ruggero Verre, a researcher
at the Department of Physics at Chalmers and co-author of the scientific article.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Chalmers_University_of_Technology. Note: Content may be edited for style
and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Daniel Andre'n, Jade Marti'nez-Llina`s, Philippe Tassin, Mikael
Ka"ll,
Ruggero Verre. Large-Scale Metasurfaces Made by an
Exposed Resist. ACS Photonics, 2020; 7 (4): 885 DOI:
10.1021/acsphotonics.9b01809 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200611094110.htm

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