Lenses, whether natural, as in the human eye, or man-made, such as those found in a microscope or camera are curved. This curvature limits the amount of light that enters the lens and limits its overall abilities. Researchers found that using a spray-on lens technology advances flat lens tech and revolutionizes the way in which optical lenses are manufactured and utilized.
Scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology successfully demonstrated that this spray-on optical lens can bend and focus ultraviolet light into such a way that it creates three dimensional images of objects that are found floating in free space. This easy-to-develop lens has the potential to advance technologies in nanoscale manipulation, manufacturing, high resolution 3D imaging and photolithography.
The new lens was created using a “flat slab of metamaterial with special characteristics that cause light to flow backward—a counterintuitive situation in which waves and energy travel in opposite directions, creating a negative refractive index.” The new material is placed between nanometer thick layers of titanium dioxide and silver. The lens has a focal length of a half a millionth of a meter – a challenging range that has been unable to be replicated in conventional refractive optic technologies.
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