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Physical Sciences Inc (PSI) has been awarded a contract from Defense Advanced Research Projects Agenc (DARPA) to develop an Aberration-correcting Topologically Optimized Metasurface (ATOM) to demonstrate the ability of a 2D surface, of negligible volume and weight, to correct aberrations in optical systems.

Metasurfaces, with their ability to arbitrarily control the amplitude and phase of light across a band of wavelengths, have the potential to disrupt imaging and communication systems which rely on traditional lenses to focus, collimate, and otherwise manipulate optical signals, and are under increasing pressure to operate with reduced size and weight.

PSI’s metasurface will enable a size and weight reduction of imaging systems without performance degradation. Traditional imaging systems utilize a large number of bulk lenses to reduce aberrations and produce high quality images. Rather than replacing conventional lenses with metalenses wholesale, our approach to producing a low size-weight and power (SWaP) optical system will utilize metasurfaces to serve as “glasses” for a single conventional lens, serving the role typically played by multiple bulk optics. Our metasurface will be designed using topological optimization, which generates non-intuitive surface patterns with higher efficiencies than traditional brute force design techniques. We will also utilize nano-imprint lithography to reduce the cost of the metacorrector when produced at large volumes.

Applications for such metasurfaces include imaging systems for air- and space-platforms, riflescopes, and in vivo medical diagnostic equipment. Additionally, the design principles developed in this work will expand upon current techniques, increasing the options available to optical designers.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Joel Hensley
Vice President, Photonics

hensley@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Telephone: (978) 689-0003