Reconfigurable Parfocal Zoom Metalens

• Published in: Advanced optical materials Vol. 10; no. 17
• Main Authors: Yang, Fan, Lin, Hung‐I, Shalaginov, Mikhail Y., Stoll, Katherine, An, Sensong, Rivero‐Baleine, Clara, Kang, Myungkoo, Agarwal, Anuradha, Richardson, Kathleen, Zhang, Hualiang, Hu, Juejun, Gu, Tian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.09.2022
• Subjects: metalens; metasurfaces; parfocal lens; phase change materials; polarization; reconfigurable optics; zoom lens
• DOI: 10.1002/adom.202200721
• ISSN: 2195-1071

Zoom lenses with variable focal lengths and magnification ratios are essential for many optical imaging applications. Conventional zoom lenses are composed of multiple refractive optics, and optical zoom is attained via translational motion of one or more lens elements, which adds to module size, complexity, and cost. In this paper, a zoom lens design based on multi‐functional optical metasurfaces is presented, which achieves large step zoom ratios, minimal distortion, and diffraction‐limited optical quality without requiring mechanical moving parts. Two embodiments of the concept are experimentally demonstrated based on polarization‐multiplexing in the visible and phase change materials in the mid‐infrared, both yielding 10× parfocal zoom in accordance with the design. This work presents a solid‐state zoom lens design based on multi‐functional optical metasurfaces which achieves large step zoom ratios, minimal distortion, and diffraction‐limited optical quality without requiring mechanical moving parts. Two embodiments of the concept are experimentally demonstrated based on polarization‐multiplexing in the visible and phase change materials in the mid‐infrared, both yielding 10× parfocal zoom in accordance with the design.