Nature Inspired Design Methodology for a Wide Field of View Achromatic Metalens

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel design methodology inspired by the human visual system for creating wide field-of-view, achromatic metalenses that operate over broad spectral bandwidths, addressing key limitations in chromatic aberration and FOV.

Contribution

It presents a comprehensive design approach optimizing stop position and correcting lateral chromatic aberration for wide-FOV, broadband metalenses, which was not previously reported.

Findings

Achieved a near-infrared metalens with 10% bandwidth and +/-20° FOV.

Demonstrated improved performance over traditional chromatic metalenses.

Optimized stop position and aberration correction methods for wide FOV applications.

Abstract

Metalenses have become ubiquitous in academic research and have begun to make their transition to industry. However, chromatic aberration still greatly limits the applications of metalenses. Achieving a wide field-of-view (FOV) is another challenge that has been dealt with successfully by using a removed stop, but when combined with broadband spectrum, lateral chromatic aberration severely limits performance. In this paper we tackle this grand challenge and present a comprehensive design methodology for a simultaneously wide-FOV and achromatic metalens which is inspired by the human visual system. As a design example, we present a metalens operating in the near infrared (NIR), with 10% relative spectral bandwidth (807-893nm), focal length of 5mm, F/5, and FOV of +/-20 degrees. In particular, we show how to optimize the stop position, and correct the lateral chromatic aberration, both of which have not been reported in the past. In addition, we evaluate the performance of the metalens using accurate performance metrics, and demonstrate the improvement compared to a chromatic metalens. Our approach paves the way for the design of wide FOV metalenses that can operate over a relatively large bandwidth, effectively contributing to the widespread implementation of metalens science and technology.