Flat optics in high numerical aperture broadband imaging systems
Werdehausen D, Burger S, Staude I, Pertsch T, Decker M (2020)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2020
Journal
Book Volume: 22
Article Number: 065607
Journal Issue: 6
Abstract
Diffractive optical elements (DOEs) remain highly underutilized in broadband optical systems even though different technologies for DOEs including échelette-type gratings (EGs), multilevel DOEs, and metagratings have been introduced. Specifically, nanocomposite-enabled EGs can achieve efficiencies of close to throughout the visible spectrum, but only for relatively small diffraction angles. Therefore, the question remains if they are suitable for high-numerical-aperture (NA) systems. Here we show that this is indeed the case. To this end, we first demonstrate that macroscopic nanocomposite-enabled diffractive lenses (DLs) can achieve perfect broadband focusing up to a NA of 0.03. We then derive analytic relationships and investigate prototypical optical designs to show that this threshold fully covers the requirements of high-end imaging systems with This holistic all-system analysis demonstrates that the individual NA of a DL in a broadband imaging system is one to two orders of magnitude lower than the overall system's NA. This shows that high-NA flat optical elements are not required for high-NA broadband systems. Therefore, nanocomposite-enabled EGs can unlock the full potential of DOEs for broadband optical systems, whereas other technologies cannot fulfill their high efficiency requirements.
Involved external institutions
Germany (DE)How to cite
APA:
Werdehausen, D., Burger, S., Staude, I., Pertsch, T., & Decker, M. (2020). Flat optics in high numerical aperture broadband imaging systems. Journal of Optics, 22(6). https://doi.org/10.1088/2040-8986/ab8ea2
MLA:
Werdehausen, Daniel, et al. "Flat optics in high numerical aperture broadband imaging systems." Journal of Optics 22.6 (2020).
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