Available Technology
New class of versatile optical components: molding light propagation with phase discontinuities
Technology:
Amplitude-phase molding of light by optically thin plasmonic interfaces
Markets Addressed
The technology published in Science and offered here opens up a potentially new range of optical tools with enhanced functions augmenting or replacing traditional lenses and mirrors. It allows for optical manipulations such as color (frequency of light waves), brightness (amplitude) and polarization of light to create a “funhouse mirror” type effect using flat surfaces in ways never before thought possible. Applications are seen in the full spectrum of optical devices including consumer electronics, laboratory equipment and communications.
Innovations and Advantages
Present optical components rely on gradual phase shifts accumulated during light propagation to shape optical wavefronts. This includes diffractive optical components such as phase-shift masks, spatial lightwave modulators and holograms, in addition to bulk optical components, such as lenses. In phase-shift masks, widely used to improve image resolution in photolithography, wavefront of propagating light is modified by introducing spatially dependent phase shifts. In spatial light modulators the wavefront can be dynamically modified by tuning pixelated liquid crystal cells. New degrees of freedom in optical design can be attained by introducing in the optical path phase discontinuities over the scale of the wavelength using arrays of plasmonic antennas. Such an array of suitably designed optical antennas with spatially varying phase and amplitude response can imprint an arbitrary distribution of phase discontinuities on the propagating wavefront allowing unprecedented degrees of freedom in optical design and beam shaping. A new class of components based on this principle is proposed: planar lenses, wave plates, blazed gratings, spiral phase plates, and other elements across the visible, infrared, and terahertz spectral ranges.
Additional Information
Intellectual Property Status: Patent(s) pending
Publications:
N. Yu, P. Genevet, M. Kats, F. Aieta, J. Tetienne, F. Capasso, Z. Gaburro, " Light Propagation with Phase Discontinuities: Generalized Laws of Reflection and Refraction," Science 1210713 (2011)
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Inventor(s):
Aieta, Francesco
Capasso, Federico
Gaburro, Zeno
Genevet, Patrice
Kats, Mikhail A.
Yu, Nanfang
Categories:
For further information, please contact:
Alan Gordon, Director of Business Development
(617) 384-5000
Reference Harvard Case #4239