Grant: Idea to Innovation

All optical devices, ranging from common ones (e.g., cameras and telescopes) to those on the cutting edge (e.g., biometric scanners or range-detectors based on LIDAR), contain some combination of lenses and sensors. For lenses to function in all of these applications, they require a region of empty space for light to travel and form images. Unfortunately, this region of space is large enough to significantly increase the total size of these many devices, precluding them from being incorporated into mobile devices. Our team has developed a new optical element called a spaceplate that can be added to lens systems to compress the size of these empty regions. The proof-of-concept spaceplates we have designed thus far have impressive compression factors exceeding 300. For example, a spaceplate with this compression factor will squeeze 2.5 mm of space into a plate only 7.5 microns thick. Moreover, these initial designs operate at a practical optical wavelength, 1550nm, used by commercial telecommunications. Here, we propose to adapt our spaceplate technology for the specifications relevant to those used in LIDAR applications, such as range-detectors; and biometric scanners, including fingerprint scanners and iris scanners. First, these devices all operate at near-infrared wavelengths (900 nm), necessitating a complete redesign for a new set of compatible materials with different optical properties. In addition, they operate for a specified range of angles (NA < 0.1) and wavelength bandwidth (< 40 nm) and for a fixed polarization. Our redesign will incorporate all of these requirements to bring our idea closer to commercialization. We will fabricate and characterize these designs to validate our devices. The results of our work will help to miniaturize the devices described above, producing lighter, more compact LIDAR-based range-detectors and biometric scanners. These devices will lead to more secure authentication capabilities on smartphones and laptops and more sensors on autonomous vehicles, including self-driving cars, construction equipment, and robotic vehicles.