News Harvard researchers create distortion free flat lenses.

wow... that's really big, although I'm not sure if its main purpose is photography-like systems or fiber-optic communications... from the phrase "the resulting image or signal" it appears to be usable for both :)

they also say it's easy to manufacture, which might mean its market introduction isn't too far off?
 
this part sounds super cool...... "The array of nanoantennas, dubbed a “metasurface,” can be tuned for specific wavelengths of light by simply changing the size, angle, and spacing of the antennas", but I have no idea what they are talking about.

I are dumb.
 
LOL. This probably isn't exactly right, but it sounds like these nanoantennas can capture optical frequency light the way big antennas capture radio waves. They then release it after a delay, which replicates what different thickness glass does in a regular lens. What an amazing idea. This would mean that cell phone cameras just lost one of their major drawbacks.
 
well, it's made of silicon but they don't say whether it's pure silicon or some kind of compound... and essentially, most glass is a silicon-based compound, so it's not that far off? :tongue:
 
well, it's made of silicon but they don't say whether it's pure silicon or some kind of compound... and essentially, most glass is a silicon-based compound, so it's not that far off? :tongue:

I think the silicon is just a blank plate to work on. It's the nano gold that does the actually lensing.
 
I don't understand this at all. It's only 60nm thick. They could just apply it like a coating on optical glass.
wouldn't that undo all the advantages of the technology? or do you mean a completely "neutral" optical glass that doesn't do any aiming or focusing or shaping of the light, just to make consumers feel more comfortable about it?
 
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