A new study has proposed a way of eliminating the space between optical elements in lenses, potentially shrinking them by an enormous margin. The research into miniature lenses is still in its early phases, but it could have implications for anything reaching from long-telephoto monster lenses to integrated lens-element wafers in billions of next-gen smartphones. Researchers from the University of Ottawa have authored a paper proposing a new type of optical element in next-generation lenses, one designed not to increase magnification, or sharpness, or even the bokeh, but to miniaturize lenses by replacing their empty internal spaces with much more compact solid layers. They call these layers “spaceplates.” Miniature lenses – Soon a reality? Spaceplates differ from typical refractive elements in camera lenses because refraction, by definition, changes the angle at which beams of light travel. On the other hand, a spaceplate is meant to take light and drastically change its position upon exiting on the other side, but to also leave the trajectory of that light unchanged. Light leaving a spaceplate exits at the same angle at which it enters – it just makes that exit at a different place than expected based on that angle. See Figure a, below: What this means is that a spaceplate can manipulate light so that it seems to have traveled a longer distance at a given trajectory than it really has. Since it doesn’t change the angle of the light beams, the spaceplate does not affect a lens’ flange distance or level...
Published By: CineD - Thursday, 24 June, 2021