Simulation of Multilayered Metasurface Space Plate

There is a widespread tendency in many modern optical design applications to make the system as compact as possible. Cameras in mobile phones are one of the most mainstream examples of this tendency. Although the focus is usually on the imaging components themselves (trying to reduce the bulk in lenses by moving towards flat components, for instance), addressing the distances between components is also necessary in order to make the system as small as possible while retaining the desired function. This can be achieved, for example, by folding the system on itself to utilize the same volume for multiple propagation steps, but that is not the only available strategy.

In this week’s newsletter we present the simulation of a multilayered metasurface space plate (as proposed by O. Reshef et al. in their publication “An optic to replace space and its application towards ultra-thin imaging systems.”, Nat. Commun.12, 3512 [2021]): a flat component capable of replicating the response of a free-space propagation step much longer than the actual physical thickness of the component.

The optical modeling and design software VirtualLab Fusion offers a rich pool of interoperable modeling techniques on a single software platform, which allows us to select the rigorous S-matrix algorithm for the multilayered structure of the space plate and combine it with other methods, like those for free-space propagation or any additional components present, to complete the simulation of the whole system with the perfect balance between accuracy and speed.

Do take a look at the documents below to find out more about the space plate example, as well as a deep-dive document into our Stratified-Media component, which can be used to construct such layered components.