Granted Patent B2

US 12,641,900 · App. 18/433,269 · Granted May 26, 2026

Inventors: Robert C. Devlin (Stoneham, MA); John Graff (Swampscott, MA)

Assignee: Metalenz, Inc.

H10F39/806G02B1/002G02B5/1809G02B5/1814G02B27/0944G02B27/0988G02B27/4233G02B27/4244G02B27/4294H04N23/55H10F39/804H10F39/8053

Abstract

Claims (19)

1 . An imaging system comprising:

at least one image sensor;

a substrate layer disposed on the at least one image sensor, the substrate layer having a substrate thickness and configured to be transparent to a light with a target wavelength, the substrate layer having a first surface distal the at least one image sensor and a second surface proximal the at least one image sensor;

an aperture disposed above the first surface of the substrate layer with a first distance and having an aperture opening disposed therein; and

a single layer of a plurality of identical or unique nanostructured elements comprising a metasurface disposed on the first surface, such that light impinging on the aperture opening passes through at least a portion of the metasurface such that a specified angular deflection is imposed thereby;

wherein the aperture and the metasurface are configured to gather light of a specified operational bandwidth across a specified field of view and shift the light with the target wavelength such that it comes to a focus on the at least one image sensor at a zero or near-zero degree chief ray angle; and

wherein the at least one image sensor and the metasurface have rectangular geometries.

2 . The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the first distance is determined by a spacing layer comprised of one of either a solid-state spacer material or an air gap.

3 . The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the aperture is disposed above the substrate layer with a distance determined by an air gap.

4 . The imaging system of claim 1 , further comprising a glass cover disposed atop the at least one image sensor.

5 . The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the field of view is at least ±30 degrees.

6 . The imaging system of claim 1 , further comprising a narrow bandwidth optical filter disposed between the metasurface and the at least one image sensor.

7 . The imaging system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one refractive optic positioned adjacent to the first surface of the substrate layer.

8 . The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the aperture opening does not deflect light rays.

9 . The imaging system of claim 1 , further comprising an anti-reflective coating on the metasurface, the first surface, and/or the second surface.

10 . The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one image sensor comprises multiple image sensor periodically space in a 2D array.

11 . The imaging system of claim 10 , further comprising at least one refractive lens, wherein the at least one image sensor is characterized by a vertical, v, and a horizontal, h, dimension, and wherein the at least one refractive lens is characterized by a f-number of the at least one refractive lens, N, defined as N=f/D where f is a focal length of the imaging system and D is a diameter of the at least one refractive lens.

12 . The imaging system of claim 11 , wherein a metasurface width, w, is given by w=v+f/N, and wherein a metasurface length, l, is given by l=h+f/N.

13 . The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the aperture has a circular geometry.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (400)