When you’re leaving the house or the office, what is one of the items you never leave home without? If you’re like most people, your smart phone is never far from your reach – whether in a handbag or a suit coat pocket. Regardless of whether you carry a phablet or a smaller model smart phone, they have become miniaturized computers that are always on the go with us.
Today, scientists at Harvard University, Texas A&M and two universities in Italy have been working together to develop a revolutionary new smart phone lens that is distortion-free, flat and so small that more than 1,000 human hairs could fit across its width! This lens is believed to be capable of replacing lenses in applications that range from use in cell phones, cameras and fiber optic communication systems. Once fully developed, it could lead to smart phones that are as thin as, or thinner, than a credit card.
The team of researchers explained, “the lenses used to focus light in eyeglasses, microscopes, and other products use the same basic technology dating to the late 1200s, when spectacle lenses were introduced in Europe.” Today’s lenses were deemed, “not thin enough or flat enough” to be capable of removing distortions. The distortions included:
- Spherical aberration
- Astigmatism
- Coma; all three prevent the creation of a sharp image.
Researchers discovered that the correction of the potential distortions required complex solutions that included using multiple lenses, but found those increased the weight of the device and took up valuable space inside the shell. As a way to beat these challenges, the researchers set out to develop a super-thin flat lens.
The new lens, although ultra-thin, has a “resolving power that approaches theoretical limits set by the laws of optics.” The design of the lens is such that its surface is patterned with tiny metallic stripes that are capable of bending light into different patterns. As one light wave moves away from the center it causes the beam to focus sharply without any distortion of the images. The most recent version of the lens will operate at a specific design wavelength, but the scientists are working on a redesign that will allow it to operate with broadband light.
Universe Kogaku designs and manufactures optical lenses for industrial, medical, high tech and electronic applications. We also have standard and custom lens assemblies for scanners, CCTV, CCD/CMOS, medical imaging, surveillance systems, machine vision and night vision systems available.