An optic to replace space and its application towards ultra-thin imaging systems

Current efforts to improve imaging have focused on enhancing lenses. Metalenses, enabled by nanotechnology, promise more compact devices, but the significant space between lenses remains a challenge. This paper introduces and experimentally demonstrates an optical 'spaceplate' that effectively propagates light over a distance much greater than its physical thickness. This innovation could miniaturize imaging systems and other devices that manipulate light's spatial profile, such as solar concentrators and spectrometers.

Orad Reshef, Michael P. DelMastro, Katherine K. M. Bearne, Ali H. Alhulaymi, Lambert Giner, Robert W. Boyd, Jeff S. Lundeen