Posted by Wick Smith on September 4, 2012 at 9:21 AM
Now here's an interesting concept:
Applied physicists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have created an ultrathin, flat lens that focuses light without imparting the distortions of conventional lenses.
At a mere 60 nanometers thick, the flat lens is essentially two-dimensional, yet its focusing power approaches the ultimate physical limit set by the laws of diffraction.
I sure agree-- smaller, lighter lenses would be pretty good, too.
Posted by Mark Seaver on September 5, 2012 at 9:33 AM
This looks like a variation (using what are called meta-materials) on the diffractive optics theme. Canon has (or used to have) a 400mm diffractive optic lens on the market that was lighter, but wasn't quite as good optically as their other 400s. It will be interesting to watch and see if they can make this work using visible light since meta-materials for visible light are much harder to create.
Discussion
2 repliesApplied physicists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have created an ultrathin, flat lens that focuses light without imparting the distortions of conventional lenses.
At a mere 60 nanometers thick, the flat lens is essentially two-dimensional, yet its focusing power approaches the ultimate physical limit set by the laws of diffraction.
http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news-events/press-releases/flat-lens-offers-perfect-image
That would make my photo backpack a lot lighter!
I sure agree-- smaller, lighter lenses would be pretty good, too.