NIL Technology (NILT), a leader in modern optical solutions, demonstrates breakthrough performance in flat optics. A complete NIR camera module is built using a 940 nm single metalens and a NIR sensor. Both demonstrator and customer-specific metalenses are currently being prototyped, shipped, and made ready for mass production.
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For more than a decade, camera lenses used in smartphones and other products have not seen revolutionary changes. Lenses are still made with multiple bulky refractive lenses or lens elements stacked on top of each other. NILT is on a mission to bring revolutionary changes to smartphone cameras by significantly reducing the size and complexity of these lens systems.
This first demonstration is a 940 nm near-infrared (NIR) wavelength imaging lens with a single metasurface, used for 3D sensing and face recognition in smartphones and driver-monitoring in automobiles.
The single metalens, as we will introduce as 1 M, Meta Optical Element (MOE), is groundbreaking in its form, performance, compactness, and efficiency. It validates the uniqueness of MOEs over traditional refractive lenses.
- Compactness. MOEs are flatter, thinner, and lighter than refractive lenses, having a lens simplicity not demonstrated before.
- Superior. MOE lenses have significantly better imaging quality with a wide field of view, low F-number, high MTF, and high relative illumination, all at a low total track length.
- Cost-efficiency. Assembly costs and integration complexity will be lower.
- Robustness. Silicon on glass-substrate makes for strong, thermally stable lenses.
Design to delivery in only four weeks
NILT has more than 15 years of experience in high precision nanostructuring and is applying this to realize fast prototyping and mass production of MOEs. Prototyping is secured by high-quality Electron Beam Lithography (EBL) with a significantly quicker turnaround time than Deep UV Lithography (DUV). In addition, EBL gives ultra-high resolution and has a high degree of design freedom. Mass production is done by nanoimprint lithography (NIL), with no constraints on meta-atom geometries (size, shape, and location), ensuring best performing metalenses. In addition, nanoimprint lithography makes it possible for NILT to mass produce without relying on semiconductor geometrical limitations and processing capacity.
Production of customized 1M MOEs is based on a combination of high expertise, and proven, validated, and reliable methodology. NILT is an established company with more than 1,500 purchase orders of experience. In addition, we have made customized prototypes for many years.
Theodor Nielsen, CEO & Founder, NIL Technology
NILT is designing, prototyping, assembling, and bringing up mass-production of metalenses. The entire process is done internally. As a result, NILT’s MOEs can be made in large quantities, with design to prototyping delivery in only four weeks and further redesign and turnaround in less than two weeks. Standard lenses with NILT designs are already shipped today.
Technical specs on the optical performance for the flat, multifunctional optics product platform for 3D sensing and LiDAR can be found on www.nilt.com/flat-nir-metalens-1m.