A Microlens Super-Surface Film with Regular Graded Circular Hole-Like Subwavelength Structures for Highly Focusing Strength

Using the fact that a sub-wavelength structure exhibits the same thermal expansion coefficient as a micro-lens array, we design a micro-lens super-surface film with regular circular hole-like subwavelength structures to realize the high performances of central highly focusing strength and short focal length. In addition, based on the Fresnel—Kirchhoff diffraction theory, the influences of subwavelength structural period and height on the focusing performance of a micro-lens are analyzed. Furthermore, the finite-difference time-domain method is utilized to optimize the structural parameters. Via direct laser writing and an inductively coupled plasma process, we fabricated a square micro-lens array consisting of a 1000 × 1000 micro-lens unit with a sub-wavelength structure, and the optical focusing performance was measured in the visible light band. Finally, the experimental results indicate that the focal length is decreased to 15 μm, the focal spot central energy is increased by 7.3%, and the light transmission, enhanced via inserting sub-wavelength structures, corresponds to 3%. This proves that the designed micro-lens array with a regular-graded circular hole-like subwavelength structure can achieve central high focusing and a short focal length. This has applications in several fields of wavefront detection and light field imaging systems.

Phase Reversal Technique Applied to Fishnet Metalenses

In this work, the fishnet metamaterial is applied to several converging metalenses by combining the zoning, reference phase, and phase reversal techniques. First, the zoning and reference phase techniques are implemented in several metalenses at 55 GHz (λ0=5.45 mm) with a short focal length of 1.5 λ0. Then, the phase reversal technique is applied to these metalenses by switching from a concave to a convex profile in order to change the phase distribution inside of them. The designs are evaluated both numerically and experimentally demonstrating that chromatic dispersion (the shift of the position of the focus at different frequencies) is reduced when using the phase-reversed profiles. It is shown how the position of the focus remains at the same location within a relatively broadband frequency range of ~4% around the design frequency without affecting the overall behaviour of the metalenses. The best performance is achieved with the design that combines both reference phase and phase reversal techniques, with an experimental position of the focus of 1.75 λ0, reduced side lobes, and a power enhancement of 6.5 dB. The metalenses designed here may find applications in situations where a wideband response and low side lobes are required because of the reduced chromatic aberrations of the focus.