New optical lenses for smartphones 20 times thinner than hair

Engineers have developed a new type of optical lens,which are hundreds of times thinner and lighter than usual, and are also suitable for night photography. They can be used in phones, drones, night vision devices and other electronics.

New smartphone models are equipped with excellentcameras that take high-quality, high-resolution pictures. The only problem is that their lenses on the back are several millimeters thick, so they stick out and look like bumps on a flat surface. However, engineers from the University of Utahproposed a solution to this problem.

Scientists have developed a technology for the production of polymer optical lenses with a thickness of only a few microns. They are a hundred times lighter and a thousand times thinner than usual, but they work the same way.

A traditional curved lens catcheslight reflected from objects and refracts it. The new type is flat, but has many microstructures, each of which bends the light in the right direction and focuses on the sensor. The team achieved this effect using a special polymer and algorithms that allow you to calculate the correct geometry of the microstructures.

In addition to the classic applications, such lenses can be used in thermal imagers to observe objects in the dark.

With their help, manufacturers will be able to creatediscreet cameras for smartphones that are shock-resistant. The military can use them in miniature drones or to facilitate various surveillance devices.

According to the team, the production of a new type of lens can be cheaper than traditional because they are made of plastic rather than glass.

Let us recall that physicists recently solved a 2000-year-old problem in optics.