The Effect of Fabrication Error on the Performance of Mid-Infrared Metalens with Large Field-of-View

Abstract

Mid-infrared large field-of-view (FOV) imaging optics play a vital role in infrared imaging and detection. The metalens, which is composed of subwavelength-arrayed structures, provides a new possibility for the miniaturization of large FOV imaging systems. However, the inaccuracy during fabrication is the main obstacle to developing practical uses for metalenses. Here, we introduce the principle and method of designing a large FOV doublet metalens at the mid-infrared band. Then, the quantitative relationship between the fabrication error and the performance of the doublet metalens with a large FOV from four different fabrication errors is explored by using the finite-difference time-domain method. The simulation results show that the inclined sidewall error has the greatest impact on the focusing performance, and the interlayer alignment error deforms the focusing beam and affects the focusing performance, while the spacer thickness error has almost no impact on the performance. The contents discussed in this paper can help manufacturers determine the allowable processing error range of the large FOV doublet metalens and the priority level for optimizing the process, which is of significance.

Metalens manufacturing complexities and costs

“…Optical devices are sensitive to semiconductor manufacturing limitations in different manners than ICs. Some of the more well known optical device sensitivities include corner rounding and etched sidewall angles [10].…”

Copper indium sulfide quantum dots enabling quantitative visible light photoisomerisation of (E)-azobenzene chromophores

“…It is worth noting that this effect has been reported with other hybrids based on azobenzene and various nanoparticles (AuNPs and AgNPs), but no conclusive explanations were reported. 24,[44][45][46][47] The photoconversion from (E) to (Z) was estimated to be quantitative when CIS@n_(E)-Azo hybrids were exposed to UV light (λ ex = 365 nm) and the isomerization quantum yields of Φ (E)→(Z) ≈ 19% were measured (see Table 2). Such a decrease in Φ (E)→(Z) between CIS@n_Azo and AzoLA (−86%) can be attributed to the different environments of the azobenzene molecules when they are in solution or in proximity to the QDs.…”

The Effect of Height Error on Performance of Propagation Phase-Based Metalens

“…In contrast, the absence of structural units has the least effect on the performance of the metalens. Additionally, other researchers have analyzed the impact of fabrication errors on the focusing efficiency of metalenses in the infrared band [30][31][32]. These metalenses are robust to minor variations in structural units due to the large characteristic dimensions of the structural units in this band.…”