Thin Imaging System Research Articles

Reinventing the Camera

DARPA’S MONTAGE project took the basic design of the camera back to the drawing board. In doing so, DARPA researchers demonstrated that thin imaging systems based on multichannel and folded path optics can produce high-quality images.

Microoptical telescope compound eye

A new optical concept for compact digital image acquisition devices with large field of view is developed and proofed experimentally. Archetypes for the imaging system are compound eyes of small insects and the Gabor-Superlens. A paraxial 3x3 matrix formalism is used to describe the telescope arrangement of three microlens arrays with different pitch to find first order parameters of the imaging system. A 2mm thin imaging system with 21x3 channels, 70 masculinex10 masculine field of view and 4.5mm x 0.5mm image size is optimized and analyzed using sequential and non-sequential raytracing and fabricated by microoptics technology. Anamorphic lenses, where the parameters are a function of the considered optical channel, are used to achieve a homogeneous optical performance over the whole field of view. Captured images are presented and compared to simulation results.

Design Considerations for Anti-reflection Layer in Thin Imaging System.

Polymers based on biphenyl methacrylate as chromophore were synthesized with different compositions for use as anti-reflective coating (ARC) in KrF lithography. These polymers were formulated with a melamine cross-linker and a thermally activated acidic catalyst. The absorption characteristics of these polymers were adjusted by changing the monomer composition. The optimum ranges of n and k for the ARC were found to be 1.56 to 1.76 and 0.125 to 0.275, respectively. The curing properties of the coatings were studied by appropriate thermal analytical techniques. The desired degree of cross-linking was achieved by varying the amount of curing agent and temperature of curing. Fine lithographic patterns could be printed with no footing and scum at imaging layer-ARC interface.