It’s no secret that electronic devices have gotten more efficient and advanced over the years. However, it’s lesser known that the design and underlying architecture of today’s optical lenses haven’t changed much over the lengthy span of the past 3000 years. This lack of advancement has created a figurative barrier for the development of next-generation optical systems that include wearable displays for virtual reality headsets.
This all changed when a team of Harvard researchers led by Federico Capasso began researching and developing next-generation optic lenses that instead implements a simple flat surface that uses titanium dioxide nanostructures to focus and conduct light. These structures were fabricated on a silicon substrate with electron beam printing and atomic layering and etching. Using these processes, Capasso’s group was able to develop 2mm achromatic metal lenses that could focus RGB colors and limit diffraction, ideal for usage in virtual reality and augmented reality systems. Capasso and his team, including a postdoctoral fellow named Zhaoyi Li, put their lenses to the test in a virtual reality headset. The lens was placed in front of the eye with a display located within the focal plan of the lenses, allowing the eye to see virtual images that give the appearance of being further away. Additionally, the team employed a custom-built fiber-scanning display with high resolution and dynamic range to capture vivid virtual images.
These advancements in supplemental virtual reality technology has paved the way towards a brighter future for meta-optics and VR/AR technologies. According to much research, metalenses have the potential to set a new standard and replace current optic pieces with their thin and lightweight achromatic counterparts. The team of Harvard researchers plan to increase the size of their meta-optic testing to centimeter scale from millimeter scale and integrate them with commercial uses of virtual reality and augmented reality applications. Their metalenses have the potential to find use in consumer electronics such as cellphones, establishing a new wave of electronic devices with these advanced optics at the core.
Authored by Vishruth Bharath
Kim, Meeri. “How Metalenses Can Advance Virtual Reality.” Optics & Photonics News (OPN), Optics & Photonics News, 4 Feb. 2021, www.osa-opn.org/home/newsroom/2021/february/how_metalenses_can_advance_virtual_reality/.
“A Metalens for Virtual and Augmented Reality.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 27 Jan. 2021, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210127152526.htm.