OPTICAL LENS

Abstract

An optical lens is used for light in a predetermined target wavelength region. The optical lens includes a substrate, and a plurality of microstructures arranged on a surface of the substrate at an interval shorter than a shortest wavelength λ in the target wavelength region. In a case where a refractive index of a medium around the optical lens is defined as n, a numerical aperture of the optical lens is defined as NA=nsinθi, and a maximum angle of view of the optical lens is defined as ±θi, an interval P of the microstructures satisfies P<λ/2 (nsinθf+nsinθi).

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an optical lens.

2. Description of the Related Art

In recent years, research and development of metalenses each having a microscopic surface structure called a metasurface has been in progress. The metasurface is a surface having a metamaterial structure that realizes an optical function that does not occur in nature. The metalens can realize an optical function equivalent to a combination of multiple optical lenses according to the related art by using a single thin flat plate structure. Accordingly, the metalens can contribute to size reduction and weight reduction of an instrument equipped with lenses, such as a camera, a LiDAR sensor, a projector, and an AR (augmented reality) display unit. Examples of the metalenses and devices using the metalenses are disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2019-516128 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2021-71727, for instance.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2019-516128 discloses a metalens including a substrate and multiple nanotstructures disposed on the substrate. In this metalens, each of the multiple nanostructures brings about an optical phase shift that varies depending on its position, and the optical phase shift of each nanostructure defines a phase profile of the metalens. The optical phase shift of each nanostructure depends on a position of the relevant nanostructure and either a size or an orientation of the nanostructure. A nanofin and a nanopillar are exemplified as examples of such a nanostructure. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2019-516128 describes a concept of realizing a desired phase shift by adjusting angles to lay out respective nanofins or by adjusting sizes of respective nanopillars.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2021-71727 discloses a compact lens assembly including a metalens and an electronic device including the lens assembly. The metalens disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2021-71727 includes a nanostructure array and is configured to form the same phase delay profile regarding at least two wavelengths being included in incident light and different from each other. In this metalens, a width of each of multiple inner pillars included in the nanostructure array is appropriately determined in accordance with a required amount of phase delay in order to realize a desired phase delay profile.

SUMMARY

The metalens of the related art generally adopts a structure that takes into account only normal incidence, and has a problem of a light focusing performance regarding obliquely incident light.

One non-limiting and exemplary embodiment provides an optical lens which can improve a light focusing performance regarding obliquely incident light.

In one general aspect, the techniques disclosed here feature an optical lens. The optical lens according to an aspect of the present disclosure is used for light in a predetermined target wavelength region and includes a substrate, and a plurality of microstructures arranged on a surface of the substrate at an interval shorter than a shortest wavelength λ in the target wavelength region. In a case where a refractive index of a medium around the optical lens is defined as n, a numerical aperture of the optical lens is defined as NA=nsinθ_f, and a maximum angle of view of the optical lens is defined as ±θ_i, an interval P of the microstructures satisfies P<λ/2(nsinθ_f+nsinθ_i).

Here, θ_f is an aperture half-angle with respect to the numerical aperture NA.

A comprehensive or specific aspect of the present disclosure may be realized by a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a computer-readable storage medium such as a storage disk, or may be realized by any combination of a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, and a storage medium as such. The computer-readable storage medium may include a nonvolatile storage medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory). The apparatus may be formed from one or more devices. In the case where the apparatus is formed from two or more devices, the two or more devices may be disposed in a single instrument or may be individually disposed in two or more separate instruments. In the present specification and claims, the term “device” may not only mean a single device but may also mean a system formed from multiple devices.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible to improve a light focusing performance of an optical lens regarding obliquely incident light.

Additional benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will become apparent from the specification and drawings. The benefits and/or advantages may be individually obtained by the various embodiments and features of the specification and drawings, which need not all be provided in order to obtain one or more of such benefits and/or advantages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating an example of a metalens;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically illustrating an example of a structure of one unit cell;

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a function of the metalens;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining conditions concerning an interval between unit cells for producing a metalens having a desired function regarding normally incident light;

FIG. 5A is a diagram for explaining a light focusing performance of a metalens of the related art;

FIG. 5B is a diagram for explaining the light focusing performance of the metalens of the related art;

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining conditions concerning an interval between unit cells for producing a metalens having a desired function regarding obliquely incident light;

FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating an example of an ideal phase profile;

FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating a phase profile wrapped in a phase range from −π to π;

FIG. 7C is a diagram illustrating a sampling example for realizing the ideal phase profile;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a relation between a sampling number N and diffraction efficiency;

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the metalens;

FIG. 10 is a schematic sectional view illustrating an example of a metalens including an optical modulation layer;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a metalens in which an optical modulation layer includes other multiple microstructures;

FIG. 12A is a diagram illustrating an example of a light focusing performance of a metalens according to the related art;

FIG. 12B is a diagram illustrating an example of a light focusing performance of a metalens according to the embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 12C is a diagram illustrating an example of a light focusing performance of a metalens according to a different embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS

An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below. Each embodiment described below represents a comprehensive or specific example. Numerical values, shapes, constituents, layout positions and modes of connection of the constituents, steps, the order of the steps, and the like depicted in the following embodiment are mere examples and are not intended to restrict the present disclosure. Meanwhile, of the constituents in the following embodiment, a constituent not defined in an independent claim that represents the highest conception will be described as an optional constituent. In the meantime, the respective drawings are schematic diagrams and are not always illustrated precisely. Moreover, in the respective drawings, identical or similar constituents are denoted by the same reference signs. Overlapping explanations may be omitted or simplified as appropriate.

In the present disclosure, the term “light” is used not only for visible light (with a wavelength from about 400 nm to about 700 nm) but also for invisible light. The invisible light means electromagnetic waves included in a wavelength region of ultraviolet rays (with a wavelength from about 10 nm to about 400 nm), infrared rays (with a wavelength from about 700 nm to about 1 mm), or an electric wave (with a wavelength from about 1 mm to about 1 m). An optical lens in the present disclosure may be used not only for the visible light but also for the invisible light such as the ultraviolet rays, the infrared rays, or the electric wave.

Underlying Knowledge Forming Basis of the Present Disclosure

First, an example of a basic configuration of an optical lens in the present disclosure and knowledge obtained by the inventors of the present disclosure will be described.

In the following description, the optical lens may also be referred to as a “metalens”. The metalens is an optical element including multiple microstructures being smaller than a wavelength of incident light and provided on its surface, and configured to realize a lens function by a phase shift attributed to those microstructures. It is possible to adjust an optical characteristic of the incident light such as a phase, an amplitude, or polarization thereof by appropriately designing shapes, sizes, directions, and layouts of the respective microstructures.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating an example of the metalens. A metalens 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a substrate 110 and multiple microstructures 120 provided on a surface of the substrate 110. Each of the microstructures 120 in this example is a columnar body having a shape similar to cylinder (also referred to as a “pillar”). A unit element including one microstructure 120 in the metalens 100 will be referred to as a “unit cell”. The metalens 100 is an aggregate of multiple unit cells.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically illustrating an example of a structure of one unit cell. The one unit cell includes a portion of the substrate 110, and one microstructure 120 projecting from the portion of the substrate 110. Each unit cell causes a phase shift of incident light in accordance with the structure of the microstructure 120.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a function of the metalens 100. In FIG. 3, arrows represent examples of light beams. The metalens 100 in this example has a function to focus the incident light as with a convex lens of the related art. In the example of FIG. 3, the incident light that is incident on the substrate side of the metalens 100 is subjected to a different phase variation depending on the position by an array of the microstructures 120, thereby being focused. Shapes, widths, heights, directions, or the like of the respective microstructures 120 are appropriately determined in order to realize a desired light focusing performance. A structure of each microstructure 120 may be appropriately determined based on data indicating a phase profile supposed to be realized and on a result of an electromagnetic field simulation, for example.

The microstructures 120 may each have a sub-wavelength size (a width and a height, for example) shorter than the wavelength of the incident light on the metalens 100, and may be arranged at sub-wavelength intervals or pitches. An “interval” of the microstructures 120 is a distance between the centers of two adjacent microstructures 120 when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate 110. The microstructures 120 may be periodically arranged or may be aperiodically arranged.

The metalens 100 may be designed in such a way as to realize a desired optical performance with the light in a predetermined target wavelength region. The target wavelength region is a wavelength region determined by specifications, for example. In a case where a lower limit of the target wavelength region is equal to 1 μm, for example, the size and the interval of the microstructures 120 may be set to a value shorter than 1 μm. A microstructure having such a nanoscale size less than 1 μm may be referred to as a “submicron structure” or a “nanostructure” as appropriate. In a case where the target wavelength region is equivalent to a wavelength region of an infrared range, the size and the interval of the microstructures 120 may be greater than 1 μm.

The number of pieces of the microstructures 120 provided on the surface of the metalens 100 is determined to be an appropriate number depending on a lens performance supposed to be realized. The number of pieces of the microstructures 120 is in a range from 100 to 10000, for example, but may be less than 100 or greater than 10000 in some cases.

Here, an example of a method of designing a metalens according to the related art will be briefly explained. For instance, there is the method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2019-516128 as the method of designing the metalens according to the related art. In the method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2019-516128, multiple nanostructures (nanofins or nanopillars, for example) are arranged at an interval which is shorter than a wavelength of incident light. A desired phase profile is realized by adjusting directions of the respective nanofins or sizes of the respective nanopillars. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2019-516128 describes a concept that a size U of the unit cell (that is, the interval of the nanostructures) may be designed in such a way as to satisfy the Nyquist sampling standard (U<λ/2NA) in order to increase efficiency. Here, λ is a designed wavelength of the metalens and NA is a numerical aperture of the metalens.

However, the above-mentioned design takes into account only the normal incidence and does not take into account the obliquely incident light. There may be a case where a sufficient light focusing performance is not available regarding the obliquely incident light even when the aforementioned Nyquist standard is satisfied. This problem will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an existing method of determining an interval (or a pitch) of unit cells necessary for producing a metalens having a certain numerical aperture. An upper diagram (a) in FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an aspect in which light incident on the metalens 100 in parallel to an optical axis changes its course by a surface provided with the microstructures 120 (hereinafter referred to as a “lens surface” as appropriate). A lower diagram (b) in FIG. 4 is a schematic enlarged diagram of a region surrounded by a dashed-line circle in the upper diagram (a).

In the example of FIG. 4, the light is incident from a medium (such as air) having a refractive index n on the metalens 100 having a refractive index n_s in parallel to the optical axis. A wavenumber corresponding to the shortest wavelength λ in the target wavelength region is defined as k_t (=2π·n/λ), and the numerical aperture of the metalens 100 is defined as NA=nsinθ_f. Here, θ_f is an aperture half-angle with respect to the numerical aperture NA. In this case, the microstructure 120 is formed in such a way as to provide the incident light with the following wavenumber component (that is, a spatial frequency component) equivalent to K₀ at the maximum:

$\begin{array}{cc}{K}_0=k_t\sin {\theta }_f=\frac{2\pi }{\lambda }n\sin {\theta }_f=\frac{2\pi }{\lambda }\mathrm{NA}.& \left(1\right)\end{array}$

A sampling interval, namely, an interval P of the unit cells which is minimum required for providing the unit cells with the maximum spatial frequency component K₀ is determined based on the sampling theorem. The sampling theorem is a theorem stating that an original signal can be restored by sampling at a frequency more than twice of a maximum frequency included in a continuous signal. According to the sampling theorem, the interval P is determined so as to satisfy the following inequality (2):

$\begin{array}{cc}\frac{2\pi }{P}>2K_0.& \left(2\right)\end{array}$

Therefore, the interval P of the microstructures 120 is determined so as to satisfy the following inequality:

$\begin{array}{cc}P<\frac{\lambda }{2\mathrm{NA}}=\frac{\lambda }{2n\sin {\theta }_f}.& \left(3\right)\end{array}$

By determining the interval (or the pitch) P of the microstructures 120 in such a way as to satisfy this condition, it is possible to realize an ideal phase profile regarding the light that is normally incident on the metalens 100.

However, the above-described designing method assumes that the incident angle of the incident light is equal to 0° and the wavenumber component of the obliquely incident light is not taken into account. Regarding the obliquely incident light, there may be a case where the aforementioned sampling theorem is not satisfied. Accordingly, it is not possible to reproduce the ideal phase uniquely and the designed light focusing performance is therefore unavailable.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams exemplifying the light focusing performance of the metalens 100 on which the microstructures 120 are arranged at the pitch P that satisfies the expression (3). FIG. 5A schematically illustrates an aspect in which the light being normally incident on the metalens 100 is focused and is incident on an imaging surface of an image sensor 200. FIG. 5B schematically illustrates an aspect in which the light being obliquely incident on the metalens 100 in addition to the light being normally incident on the metalens 100 is incident on the imaging surface of the image sensor 200. As illustrated in FIG. 5A, the metalens 100 has a high light focusing performance with respect to the normally incident light. However, as indicated with a dashed-line ellipse in FIG. 5B, the obliquely incident light does not converge on one point and forms a blurred image on the imaging surface of the image sensor 200. This is attributed to the fact that the pitch of the microstructures 120 is determined by taking account only the phase distribution for focusing the normally incident light. Regarding the obliquely incident light, the sampling theorem is not satisfied. Accordingly, it is not possible to reproduce the ideal phase and the light focusing performance is therefore deteriorated.

The inventors of the present disclosure have conceived of a configuration of an embodiment of the present disclosure to be described below in order to solve the above-mentioned problem. A configuration of an optical lens according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below.

Embodiment

An optical lens according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is used for light in a predetermined target wavelength region. The optical lens includes a substrate, and multiple microstructures provided on a surface of the substrate. The multiple microstructures are arranged at an interval shorter than the shortest wavelength in the target wavelength region. In a case where a refractive index of a medium around the optical lens is defined as n, a numerical aperture of the optical lens is defined as NA=nsinθ_f, and a maximum angle of view of the optical lens is defined as ±θ_i, an interval P of the microstructures is determined to satisfy the following expression (4):

$\begin{array}{cc}P<\frac{\lambda }{2\left(n\sin {\theta }_f+n\sin {\theta }_i\right)}.& \left(4\right)\end{array}$

Here, the “target wavelength region” is a wavelength region in which the use of the optical lens is assumed, and may be determined based on the specifications of the optical lens or on the specifications of an instrument that mounts the optical lens. The target wavelength region may include at least a portion of the wavelength region (from about 400 nm to about 700 nm) of the visible light, for example. Meanwhile, the target wavelength region may include at least a portion of the wavelength region (with the wavelength from about 10 nm to about 400 nm) of the ultraviolet rays. In the meantime, the target wavelength region may include at least a portion of the wavelength region (from about 700 nm to about 1 mm) of the infrared rays. Meanwhile, the target wavelength region may include at least a portion of the wavelength region (with the wavelength from about 1 mm to about 1 m) of the electric wave. In a certain example, the target wavelength region may include at least a portion of the wavelength region of the infrared rays from 2.5 μm to 25 μm. The wavelength region from 2.5 μm to 25 μm may suitably be used for a sensing device using the infrared rays such as a LiDAR sensor or an infrared camera. Here, the term “wavelength” in the present disclosure means a wavelength in free space unless otherwise stated.

The substrate and each microstructure may be formed from a material having transparency with respect to light in the target wavelength region. Here, the expression “having transparency” means having a characteristic of causing the incident light to pass through at transmittance greater than 50%. In a certain embodiment, the substrate 110 and each microstructure 120 may be formed from a material that causes the light in the target wavelength region to pass through at the transmittance greater than or equal to 80%.

The “interval” between the microstructures means a distance between the centers of two adjacent microstructures when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate (or the lens surface). In the case where the shortest wavelength in the target wavelength region is equal to 2.5 μm, for example, a distance between the centers of any two microstructures located adjacent to each other out of the multiple microstructures is less than 2.5 μm. Here, since the widths of the microstructures are less than the intervals between the microstructures, the widths of the microstructures are also shorter than the shortest wavelength in the target wavelength region.

Now, the meaning of the conditions of the expression (4) will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method of determining an interval (or the pitch) P of unit cells necessary for producing an optical lens (that is, a metalens) according to the present embodiment. An upper diagram (a) in FIG. 6 schematically illustrates an aspect in which the light obliquely incident on the metalens 100 changes its course by the lens surface provided with the microstructures 120. A lower diagram (b) in FIG. 6 is a schematic enlarged diagram of a region surrounded by a dashed-line circle in the upper diagram (a).

In the example of FIG. 6, light having a wavenumber k_i is incident from the medium (such as air) having the refractive index n onto the metalens 100 having the refractive index n_s at an incident angle θ_i. The metalens 100 may be used in combination with the image sensor in an imaging device, for example. The metalens 100 may also be used in a telescope, a microscope, or a scanning optical device. The wavenumber corresponding to the shortest wavelength λ in the target wavelength region is defined as k_t (=2π·n/λ), and the numerical aperture of the metalens 100 is defined as NA=nsinθ_f. The incident angle θ_i is defined as a maximum half angle of view of the metalens 100 (that is, a maximum incident angle of the light that can be used in the device including the metalens 100). The maximum incident angle of the light stated herein may be a maximum angle of view of the device such as the imaging device, the telescope, or the microscope including the metalens 100, a maximum scanning angle of the scanning optical device including the metalens 100, or the like. Note that the usage of the metalens 100 is not limited only thereto. The multiple microstructures 120 are formed in such a way as to provide the incident light with the following wavenumber component (that is, the spatial frequency component) equivalent to K₁ at the maximum:

$\begin{array}{cc}{K}_1=k_t\sin {\theta }_f+k_i\sin {\theta }_i=\frac{2\pi }{\lambda }n\sin {\theta }_f+\frac{2\pi }{\lambda }n\sin {\theta }_i=\frac{2\pi }{\lambda }\mathrm{NA}+\frac{2\pi }{\lambda }n\sin {\theta }_i.& \left(5\right)\end{array}$

The sampling interval P minimum required for providing the unit cells with the maximum spatial frequency component K₁ is determined by the sampling theorem so as to satisfy the following inequality (6):

$\begin{array}{cc}\frac{2\pi }{P}>2K_1.& \left(6\right)\end{array}$

Therefore, the interval P of the microstructures 120 is determined so as to satisfy the following inequality (7):

$\begin{array}{cc}P<\frac{\lambda }{2\left(\mathrm{NA}+n\sin {\theta }_i\right)}=\frac{\lambda }{2\left(n\sin {\theta }_f+n\sin {\theta }_i\right)}.& \left(7\right)\end{array}$

It is also possible to satisfy the sampling theorem regarding the obliquely incident light by determining positions of the respective microstructures 120 so as to satisfy this inequality. Thus, the ideal phase is reproduced easily. As a consequence, it is possible to prevent reduction in aberration and reduction in light focusing efficiency.

Next, a more preferable layout of the microstructures 120 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7A to 7C.

FIG. 7A illustrates an example of the ideal phase profile. The horizontal axis indicates a coordinate r that defines the center of the metalens 100 as a point of origin, and the vertical axis indicates a phase ϕ. FIG. 7B illustrates a phase profile wrapped in a phase range from −π to π. FIG. 7C illustrates a sampling example for realizing the ideal phase profile. Black points in FIG. 7C represent examples of the positions (that is, sampling points) of the microstructures 120. As illustrated in these drawings, an appropriate number of the microstructures 120 are disposed in each of multiple sections wrapped between −π to π. Due to the sampling theorem, the microstructures 120 greater than or equal to two are disposed in a single continuous section from −π to π.

In this example, sharpness of the phase in the vicinity of the center of the lens is different from that in the vicinity of an end thereof. A variation ratio of the phase ϕ with respect to a variation in position r in the vicinity of the center of the lens is larger than that in the vicinity of the end thereof. In the above-mentioned case, an interval P2 of the microstructures 120 in the vicinity of the end may be set smaller than an interval P1 of the microstructures 120 in the vicinity of the center. By disposing the microstructures 120 as described above, it is possible to reproduce the ideal phase profile more accurately.

Reproducibility of the phase profile is improved more as the number of pieces of the microstructures 120 included in the single continuous section from −π to π, that is, the sampling number is increased more. For example, it is possible to further improve reproducibility of the phase profile by disposing greater than or equal to three or greater than or equal to four microstructures 120 in each section.

There may be a case of low reproducibility since the wrapping phase is reproduced with two dots in the case where a difference is small between the left side and the right side of the aforementioned inequality (6). Accordingly, the expression (6) is expanded to the following expression (8) by setting N to an integer greater than or equal to 2:

$\begin{array}{cc}\frac{2\pi }{P}>N\times K_1.& \left(8\right)\end{array}$

In this case, the interval P of the microstructures 120 is determined so as to satisfy the following expression (9):

$\begin{array}{cc}P<\frac{\lambda }{N\left(\mathrm{NA}+n\sin {\theta }_i\right)}=\frac{\lambda }{N\left(n\sin {\theta }_f+n\sin {\theta }_i\right)}.& \left(9\right)\end{array}$

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a relation between the sampling number N and diffraction efficiency. A relational expression η=sinc² (1/N) has been known as the relation between the sampling number N and diffraction efficiency η. The practical diffraction efficiency is greater than or equal to 80%, for example. FIG. 8 reveals that the diffraction efficiency is greater than or equal to 80% in the case where N≥4 holds true. Accordingly, N may be set to an integer greater than or equal to 4, for instance. In a case of N=4, for example, an interval P (r) of the microstructures 120 satisfies the following expression (10):

$\begin{array}{cc}P<\frac{\lambda }{4\left(n\sin {\theta }_f+n\sin {\theta }_i\right)}.& \left(10\right)\end{array}$

It is possible to further suppress the reduction in light focusing performance by disposing the respective microstructures 120 in such a way as to satisfy the expression (10).

Here, if the sampling number N is too large, there is a possibility to cause an undesirable problem such as reduction in processing accuracy, deterioration in durability, or an increase in process variation at the time of manufacture. For this reason, a lower limit may be provided to the interval P of the microstructures 120. For instance, the value on the right side of the expression (10) in the case where N=8, N=10, or the like may be defined as the lower limit of P. For example, in a case where the value on the condition that N=8 is defined as the lower limit, the interval P of the microstructures 120 is determined so as to satisfy the following expression (11):

$\begin{array}{cc}P>\frac{\lambda }{8\left(n\sin {\theta }_f+n\sin {\theta }_i\right)}.& \left(11\right)\end{array}$

The problem such as reduction in processing accuracy, deterioration in durability, or an increase in process variation at the time of manufacture can be effectively suppressed by disposing the respective microstructures 120 so as to satisfy the expression (11).

The interval P of the microstructures 120 may be determined so as to satisfy both the expression (10) and the expression (11). According to this configuration, it is possible to achieve both improvement in light focusing performance regarding the obliquely incident light and manufacturing advantages.

Example

Next, an example of the optical lens will be described.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the metalens 100. In this example, the substrate 110 and the multiple microstructures 120 are formed from the same material. The substrate 110 and the respective microstructures 120 are formed from a material that contains silicon having a crystal plane orientation (100) as a major ingredient. Here, the crystal plane orientation of silicon may be (110) or (111) instead. In the meantime, a material other than silicon may be used instead.

A thickness of the substrate 110 of the metalens 100 is equal to 500 μm. A shape of the substrate 110 is a square shape as illustrated in FIG. 1, and its size is 8 mm×8 mm. The multiple microstructures 120 area arranged within a circular region at a diameter of 8 mm on the surface of the substrate 110. FIG. 9 schematically illustrates a section of a certain portion of the metalens 100.

Each of the microstructures 120 illustrated in FIG. 9 is a circular cylindrical pillar. The target wavelength region is equal to 10.6 μm. A width D of each microstructure 120 is in a range from 1 μm to 3 μm, which is determined in accordance with a target value of the phase at the relevant position. A height of each microstructure 120 is equal to 7 μm. The maximum angle of view of the metalens 100 is set to ±30° (that is, the maximum half angle of view being equal to) 30°. The microstructures 120 are two-dimensionally disposed as illustrated in FIG. 1. The microstructures 120 are periodically disposed at the interval satisfying the above-mentioned expression (7) from the center toward the end. Note that these numerical values are mere examples and may be appropriately adjusted depending on the usage or the purpose of the metalens 100.

The metalens 100 may be produced by using general semiconductor manufacturing techniques such as lithography. For example, the metalens 100 may be produced in accordance with the following method. First, a silicon substrate in which the crystal plane orientation of its principal surface is the (100) plane is prepared as the substrate 110. Next, a positive resist is applied to the principal surface of the silicon substrate in accordance with a method such as a spin-coating method. Subsequently, a desired location thereof is irradiated with light or an electron beam and then undergoes a development process. Thus, the resist at the location irradiated with the light or the electron beam is removed. This silicon substrate is subjected to etching by adopting a reactive ion etching technique or the like while using an etching gas such as SF₆ gas. Hence, the principal surface of the silicon substrate at the location deprived of the resist is etched off. Thereafter, the resist remaining on the principal surface of the silicon substrate is removed in a wet process using a resist stripping solution and the like or in a dry process using O₂ ashing and the like. After these steps, it is possible to produce the metalens 100 provided with the substrate 110 and the respective microstructures 120.

Modified Example

Next, a modified example of the metalens 100 will be described.

In the above-described example, each microstructure 120 is a projecting body having a circular cylindrical shape. However, each microstructure 120 may have a shape other than the circular cylinder. For example, each microstructure 120 may be a columnar body having such a shape as an elliptic cylinder other than the circular cylinder, or a polygonal prism. Alternatively, each microstructure 120 may be a conical or pyramidal body having such a shape as an elliptic cone (inclusive of a circular cone) or a polygonal pyramid. Moreover, each microstructure 120 is not limited only to the projecting body but may also be a recessed body. The projecting body or the recessed body constituting the microstructure 120 may take on any structure including the columnar body having the shape of the elliptic cylinder or the polygonal prism, the conical or pyramidal body having the shape of the elliptic cone or the polygonal pyramid, and the like.

In the above-described example, the substrate 110 and each of the multiple microstructures 120 are formed from the same material. However, these constituents may be formed from different materials. In order to suppress unnecessary reflection or refraction between the substrate 110 and the array of the multiple microstructures 120, a difference between the refractive index of the substrate 110 and the refractive index of each of the multiple microstructures 120 may be less than or equal to 10%, less than or equal to 5%, or less than or equal to 3% of the smallest refractive index out of the refractive index of the substrate 110 and the refractive index of each of the multiple microstructures 120.

The substrate 110 and each of the multiple microstructures 120 may be formed from a material containing, as a major ingredient, at least one selected from the group consisting of silicon, germanium, chalcogenides, chalcohalides, zinc sulfide, zinc selenide, fluoride compounds, thallium halides, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, potassium bromide, cesium iodide, and plastics (such as polyethylene), for example. Here, the “major ingredient” means an ingredient having the largest content ratio expressed in mole percentage in the material. In the case where the substrate 110 and each of the multiple microstructures 120 are formed from the above-mentioned material, it is possible to increase the transmittance of infrared rays from 2.5 μm to 25 μm, for example.

An AR (Anti-Reflection) function film may additionally be formed in order to improve the transmittance. Besides the AR function film, various optical modulation layers having an optical modulation function may be provided to the metalens 100.

FIG. 10 is a schematic sectional view illustrating an example of the metalens 100 including an optical modulation layer 130. The metalens 100 in this example includes the optical modulation layer 130 having the optical modulation function, which is located on a surface of the substrate 110 on the opposite side from the surface provided with the microstructures 120. The optical modulation layer 130 may have an anti-reflection function against the incident light or may have other functions. For example, the optical modulation layer 130 may have any of functions as a high-pass filter, a low-pass filter, and a band-pass filter which allow passage of only the light in the target wavelength region. Meanwhile, the optical modulation layer 130 may be a polarizing filter having a function to allow passage of only specific polarized light out of the incident light. In the meantime, the optical modulation layer 130 may be a filter having a function to attenuate or amplify a transmission intensity of the incident light in a specific wavelength region. The optical modulation layer 130 may be an ND (Neutral Density) filter. The optical modulation layer 130 may have a function to deflect the incident light at a specific angle. The optical modulation layer 130 may be formed from a single layer or multiple layers depending on the desired optical modulation function. Meanwhile, the optical modulation layer 130 can be formed by using a film-forming method such as a vacuum vapor deposition method or a sputtering method.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the metalens 100 in which the optical modulation layer 130 includes other multiple microstructures 140 different from the microstructures 120. In this example, one of surfaces of the substrate 110 is provided with the array of the microstructures 120 while the other surface of the substrate 110 is provided with an array of the other microstructures 140. Each of the other microstructures 140 may be a projecting body or a recessed body. The projecting body or the recessed body may be a conical or pyramidal body having such a shape as an elliptic cone or a polygonal pyramid, or may be a columnar body having such a shape as an elliptic cylinder or a polygonal prism. Shapes, sizes, and layouts of the other microstructures 140 may be different from the shapes, the sizes, and the layouts of the microstructures 120. The other microstructures 140 can be produced in accordance with the same method as the production processes of the respective microstructures 120 discussed in the above-described embodiment. As in this example, provision of the arrays of the microstructures (that is, the metasurfaces) on both sides of the substrate 110 makes it easier to realize a lens function that might be difficult to be attained only on one side.

Next, effects of the optical lens (that is, the metalens) of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 12A to 12C and in comparison with the related art.

FIG. 12A is a diagram illustrating an example of a light focusing performance of a metalens 100A according to the related art. In the example of FIG. 12A, the pitch of the microstructures is determined so as to satisfy the above-mentioned expression (3), whereas the above-mentioned expression (7) is not satisfied. Since the sampling theorem is not met regarding the obliquely incident light, the obliquely incident light does not converge on one point and a blurred image is formed.

FIG. 12B is a diagram illustrating an example of a light focusing performance of a metalens 100B according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 12B, the pitch of the microstructures is determined so as to satisfy the above-mentioned expression (7). Since the sampling theorem is met not regarding not only the normally incident light but also the obliquely incident light, the obliquely incident light also converges on one spot. Accordingly, it is possible to satisfy a desired light focusing performance regarding the obliquely incident light as well.

FIG. 12C is a diagram illustrating an example of a light focusing performance of a metalens 100C according to a different embodiment of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 12C, arrays of multiple microstructures are provided on both sides of the substrate. Since the back surface side of the substrate is also provided with a light control function as in this example, it is possible to realize a higher performance such as improvement in transmissivity in addition to the improvement in light focusing performance regarding the obliquely incident light.

The optical lens of the present disclosure is widely applicable to an instrument adopting a lens, examples of which include a camera, a LiDAR sensor, a projector, an AR display unit, a telescope, a microscope, a scanning optical device, and so forth.

Claims

1. An optical lens used for light in a predetermined target wavelength region, comprising: a substrate; anda plurality of microstructures arranged on a surface of the substrate at an interval shorter than a shortest wavelength λ in the target wavelength region, whereinin a case where a refractive index of a medium around the optical lens is defined as n, a numerical aperture of the optical lens is defined as NA, and a maximum angle of view of the optical lens is defined as ±θi, an interval P of the microstructures satisfies

2. The optical lens according to claim 1, wherein in a case where θf is an aperture half-angle with respect to the numerical aperture NA, the interval P satisfies

3. The optical lens according to claim 1, wherein in a case where θf is an aperture half-angle with respect to the numerical aperture NA, the interval P satisfies

4. The optical lens according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of microstructures is a projecting body or a recessed body.

5. The optical lens according to claim 4, wherein each of the plurality of microstructures is a conical or pyramidal body having a shape of an elliptic cone or a polygonal pyramid or a columnar body having a shape of an elliptic cylinder or a polygonal prism.

6. The optical lens according to claim 1, wherein the substrate and each of the plurality of microstructures have transparency with respect to light in the target wavelength region.

7. The optical lens according to claim 1, wherein a difference between a refractive index of the substrate and a refractive index of each of the plurality of microstructures is less than or equal to 10% of a refractive index being smallest of the refractive index of the substrate and the refractive index of each of the plurality of microstructures.

8. The optical lens according to claim 1, wherein the substrate and each of the plurality of microstructures are formed from an identical material.

9. The optical lens according to claim 1, wherein the target wavelength region includes at least a portion of a wavelength region of infrared rays greater than or equal to 2.5 μm and less than or equal to 25 μm.

10. The optical lens according to claim 1, wherein the substrate and each of the plurality of microstructures are formed from a material containing, as a major ingredient, at least one selected from the group consisting of silicon, germanium, chalcogenides, chalcohalides, zinc sulfide, zinc selenide, fluoride compounds, thallium halides, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, potassium bromide, cesium iodide, and plastics.

11. The optical lens according to claim 10, wherein the optical lens is formed from a material containing silicon as a major ingredient, anda crystal plane orientation of the silicon is (100), (110), or (111).

12. The optical lens according to claim 1, further comprising: an optical modulation layer having an optical modulation function and being located on an opposite-side surface from the surface of the substrate.

13. The optical lens according to claim 12, wherein the optical modulation layer includes another plurality of microstructures, andeach of the other plurality of microstructures is a projecting body or a recessed body.

14. The optical lens according to claim 13, wherein each of the other plurality of microstructures is a conical or pyramidal body having a shape of an elliptic cone or a polygonal pyramid or a columnar body having a shape of an elliptic cylinder or a polygonal prism.

15. The optical lens according to claim 12, wherein the optical modulation layer has an anti-reflection function against incident light.

16. The optical lens according to claim 12, wherein the optical modulation layer has any of functions as a high-pass filter, a low-pass filter, and a band-pass filter which allow passage of only the light in the target wavelength region.

17. The optical lens according to claim 12, wherein the optical modulation layer has a function to allow passage of only specific polarized light out of incident light.

18. The optical lens according to claim 12, wherein the optical modulation layer has a function to attenuate or amplify a transmission intensity of incident light in a specific wavelength region.

19. The optical lens according to claim 12, wherein the optical modulation layer has a function to deflect incident light at a specific angle.