Dielectric Metalens: Properties and Three-Dimensional Imaging Applications

Sun-Je Kim,Jinsoo Jeong,Changhyun Kim,Jaisoon Kim,Byoungho Lee,Woojun Han,Youngjin Kim,Seokho Choi

doi:10.3390/s21134584

Sun-Je Kim, Jinsoo Jeong + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/s21134584

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Abstract

Recently, optical dielectric metasurfaces, ultrathin optical skins with densely arranged dielectric nanoantennas, have arisen as next-generation technologies with merits for miniaturization and functional improvement of conventional optical components. In particular, dielectric metalenses capable of optical focusing and imaging have attracted enormous attention from academic and industrial communities of optics. They can offer cutting-edge lensing functions owing to arbitrary wavefront encoding, polarization tunability, high efficiency, large diffraction angle, strong dispersion, and novel ultracompact integration methods. Based on the properties, dielectric metalenses have been applied to numerous three-dimensional imaging applications including wearable augmented or virtual reality displays with depth information, and optical sensing of three-dimensional position of object and various light properties. In this paper, we introduce the properties of optical dielectric metalenses, and review the working principles and recent advances in three-dimensional imaging applications based on them. The authors envision that the dielectric metalens and metasurface technologies could make breakthroughs for a wide range of compact optical systems for three-dimensional display and sensing.

Highlights

Over the last decade, optical dielectric metasurfaces, ultrathin optical skins with densely arranged dielectric nano-antennas, have been in the spotlight in the optics and photonics communities from both industry and academia [1,2,3]
Dielectric metalens technology was thoroughly discussed in terms of the working principles, the basic performance characteristics of focusing and imaging, and the limits of performance originating from aberrations
Recent three-dimensional imaging applications based on dielectric metalenses were reviewed

Summary

Introduction

Optical dielectric metasurfaces, ultrathin optical skins with densely arranged dielectric nano-antennas, have been in the spotlight in the optics and photonics communities from both industry and academia [1,2,3]. The reason for such explosive interest is based on the unprecedented, revolutionary properties of dielectric metasurfaces such as ultrathin thickness and light weight, large degree of freedom in optical wavefront encoding, suppression of higher order diffraction, polarization tunability, large diffraction angle, and ease of fabrication and integration. Among many flat meta-optic elements [1,2,3]

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