Samsung Electronics announced on the 25th that a research paper on 'color-free aberration meta-lens,' conducted through industry-academic cooperation with Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), has been published in the prestigious journal Nature Materials.
Meta-lenses are flat lenses composed of nano-sized structures that can control the diffraction of light. They have the advantage of dramatically reducing size and thickness compared to conventional convex optical lenses, making them a focus for next-generation devices in optical system fields such as displays and cameras.
However, there were technical limitations due to significant chromatic aberration (a phenomenon where image colors blur due to different refractive indices for each wavelength of light), making it challenging to develop actual products.
Samsung Electronics and the POSTECH research team recently succeeded in developing a 'color-free aberration meta-lens.' They also demonstrated that it is possible to compensate for various optical aberrations, including chromatic aberrations and distortions, when combined with holographic displays.
This project was led by Dr. Moon Seok-il from Samsung Research and Professor Noh Jun-seok from POSTECH. POSTECH researchers Choi Min-seok, Kim Joo-hoon, and Shin Gil-soo participated as co-first authors.
Samsung Electronics and the POSTECH research team resolved the limitations of chromatic aberration reduction by changing the design method of existing meta-lenses.
The research team explained that they succeeded in eliminating chromatic aberration by developing an algorithm that considers the interrelationships among all meta-structures from the design stage.
As a result, the 'color-free aberration meta-lens' developed by the research team can maintain a thin thickness while increasing the lens size by 3 to 5 times compared to existing ones, thereby providing a wide field of view. Additionally, it brought about an improvement in image quality while possessing the focal power of meta-lenses.
The research team also validated through technical verification that combining the color-free aberration meta-lens with holographic displays would enable the provision of smaller, lighter, and less fatiguing virtual images compared to combining conventional optical lenses and displays.
In the future, devices that combine the color-free aberration meta-lens with holographic displays are expected to enhance performance and reduce volume not only in extended reality (XR) devices but also in various optical systems such as conventional displays, cameras, and sensors.
Samsung Electronics stated, "Through this industry-academic cooperation, we confirmed the potential for development in various future optical system fields and securing next-generation display technology by validating innovations from conceptual ideas to actual implementation," and added, "We plan to continue research on innovative technologies that will lead the future."