Abstract
The vision system of arthropods such as insects and crustaceans is based on the compound-eye architecture, consisting of a dense array of individual imaging elements (ommatidia) pointing along different directions. This arrangement is particularly attractive for imaging applications requiring extreme size miniaturization, wide-angle fields of view, and high sensitivity to motion. However, the implementation of cameras directly mimicking the eyes of common arthropods is complicated by their curved geometry. Here, we describe a lensless planar architecture, where each pixel of a standard image-sensor array is coated with an ensemble of metallic plasmonic nanostructures that only transmits light incident along a small geometrically-tunable distribution of angles. A set of near-infrared devices providing directional photodetection peaked at different angles is designed, fabricated, and tested. Computational imaging techniques are then employed to demonstrate the ability of these devices to reconstruct high-quality images of relatively complex objects.
Highlights
The vision system of arthropods such as insects and crustaceans is based on the compoundeye architecture, consisting of a dense array of individual imaging elements pointing along different directions
Its basic architecture consists of an array of many imaging elements called ommatidia pointing along different directions (Fig. 1b), each collecting a single point of information about the scene being imaged
(100 nm), photodetection can only take place through an indirect process where light incident at the desired angle is first diffracted by the NPs into surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs)—i.e., guided electromagnetic waves propagating along the Au-air interface
Summary
The vision system of arthropods such as insects and crustaceans is based on the compoundeye architecture, consisting of a dense array of individual imaging elements (ommatidia) pointing along different directions This arrangement is attractive for imaging applications requiring extreme size miniaturization, wide-angle fields of view, and high sensitivity to motion. The curved geometry directly mimics the compound-eye architecture of common arthropods, but is complicated by limited compatibility with standard microelectronic circuits, which are traditionally based on planar substrates As a result, it requires either the introduction of bulky optical relay systems[5,8,9,11] or the development of complex fabrication and packaging processes to produce photodetector arrays and readout electronics on a curved surface[6,7,10]. The key conclusion is that high-quality images of relatively complex objects can be reconstructed over a wide field-of-view of ±75°, with realistic operational characteristics including number of pixels, signal-to-noise ratio, and illumination bandwidth
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