System and techniques for forming a superlens

Abstract

Systems and techniques for imaging with a super lens are provided. For example, a method may include: receiving light at a first substrate, the first substrate including a first superlens; receiving a first portion of the light at a second substrate, the second substrate comprising an optical sensor wherein: the optical sensor is directly covered by a solid cover and the first substrate is mechanically coupled to the second substrate such that the solid cover is located between the first substrate and the second substrate; and receiving, by the optical sensor and through the solid cover, at least a second portion of the light focused by the first superlens.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to optical systems utilizing metalenses. In some examples, aspects of the present disclosure relate to systems and techniques related to metalenses assemblies. Background Art

[0002] Many devices and systems include optical elements, such as lenses, for focusing light onto an image sensor. For example, a camera or a device including a camera having such an optical element may capture a frame or sequence of frames of a scene (e.g., a video of a scene). To achieve desired optical properties (e.g., including but not limited to clarity, wide field of view, etc.), a camera or camera device may utilize a refractive lens to focus incident light onto an optical sensor. In some cases, the lens of a camera device may be a composite lens including multiple refractive lens elements stacked together. In some cases, the total thickness of the composite lens stack may add additional dimensions to the device including the composite lens stack.

[0003] Metalenses may provide an alternative to refractive lenses. Metalenses may be formed by fabricating nanometerscale (also referred to herein as nanoscale) geometries on a substrate material. Nanoscale geometries may control the transmission, polarization, and phase of light passing through the nanoscale geometries based on the physical properties of the nanoscale geometries (e.g., height, width, length, diameter, etc.). In some cases, metalenses may be fabricated using fabrication techniques such as electron beam (e-beam) lithography. Summary of the invention

[0004] Systems and techniques for forming a metalens camera are described herein. The systems and techniques provide solutions for visual applications, infrared (e.g., near infrared (NIR)) applications, and / or other applications. For example, a device is provided. The device includes: a first substrate, the first substrate including a first metalens; and a second substrate, the second substrate including an optical sensor, wherein: the optical sensor is directly covered by a solid cover, and the first substrate is mechanically coupled to the second substrate such that the solid cover is between the first substrate and the second substrate.

[0005] As another example, a method for imaging is provided. The method includes: receiving light at a first substrate, the first substrate including a first metalens; receiving a first portion of the light at a second substrate, the second substrate including an optical sensor, wherein: the optical sensor is directly covered by a solid cover, and the first substrate is mechanically coupled to the second substrate such that the solid cover is between the first substrate and the second substrate; and receiving at least a second portion of the light focused by the first metalens by the optical sensor and through the solid cover.

[0006] In another example, a device is provided. The device includes: means for receiving light at a first substrate, the first substrate including a first metalens; means for receiving a first portion of the light at a second substrate, the second substrate including an optical sensor, wherein: the optical sensor is directly covered by a solid cover, and the first substrate is mechanically coupled to the second substrate such that the solid cover is between the first substrate and the second substrate; and means for receiving, by the optical sensor and through the solid cover, at least a second portion of the light focused by the first metalens.

[0007] In some aspects, one or more of the above devices are, are part of, or include: a camera or multiple cameras, a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone or so-called "smart phone" or other mobile device), a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, a fitness tracking device, etc.), an extended reality device (e.g., a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, or a mixed reality (MR) device), a personal computer, a laptop computer, a server computer, a vehicle (e.g., a computing device of a vehicle), or other device. In some aspects, the device also includes one or more displays for displaying one or more images, notifications, and / or other displayable data. In some aspects, the device may include one or more sensors that can be used to determine the position and / or posture of the device, the state of the device, and / or for other purposes.

[0008] This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification of this patent, any or all drawings, and each claim.

[0009] The foregoing and other features and embodiments will become more apparent upon reference to the following description, claims and accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Exemplary embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings:

[0011] Figure 1A is a perspective view of an exemplary metalens according to some examples;

[0012] Figure 1B is a side view of an exemplary metalens according to some examples;

[0013] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary enlarged portion of a metalens according to some examples;

[0014] Figure 3is a diagram illustrating a side view of a composite lens and a corresponding metalens according to some examples;

[0015] 4A to 4F is a diagram illustrating a metalens wafer stack manufacturing technique according to some examples;

[0016] FIG. 5A to FIG. 5D is a diagram illustrating an exemplary nanoimprint technique for fabricating a metalens according to some examples;

[0017] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary metalens wafer stack according to some examples;

[0018] FIG. 7A to FIG. 7C is a diagram illustrating an exemplary metalens wafer stack according to some examples;

[0019] FIG. 8A to FIG. 8E is a diagram illustrating a cross-section of an exemplary metalens stack configuration according to some examples;

[0020] Fig. 9A and Fig. 9B is a diagram illustrating a cross section of an exemplary metalens array on a stacked imager wafer according to some examples;

[0021] FIG. 10A to FIG. 10E is a diagram illustrating a cross-section of an exemplary metalens camera cube configuration according to some examples;

[0022] Fig.11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a computing system for implementing certain aspects described herein; and

[0023] Fig.12 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a process for imaging according to some examples. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] Some aspects and embodiments of the present disclosure are provided below. Some of these aspects and embodiments can be applied independently, and some of them can be applied in combination, which is obvious to those skilled in the art. In the following description, specific details are set forth for explanation purposes in order to provide a thorough understanding of each embodiment of the application. However, it will be apparent that each embodiment can be put into practice without these specific details. Each drawing and description are not intended to be restrictive.

[0025] The following description provides only exemplary embodiments and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the present disclosure. On the contrary, the subsequent description of the exemplary embodiments will provide an enabling description for implementing the exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art. It should be understood that various changes may be made to the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application as set forth in the appended claims.

[0026] Many devices and systems include optical elements that may include lenses for focusing light onto an image sensor. In one example, a camera or a device including a camera with an optical element (e.g., a mobile device, an extended reality (XR) device, etc.) may capture a frame or sequence of frames of a scene (e.g., a video of a scene). In order to achieve desired optical properties (e.g., clarity, wide field of view, etc.), the camera or camera device may utilize a refractive lens to focus incident light onto an image sensor. In some cases, the lens of the camera device may include a composite lens that includes multiple refractive lens elements stacked together. In some cases, the total thickness of the composite lens stack may add additional dimensions to a device that includes the camera lens stack as part of a camera system.

[0027] In contrast to a refractive lens, a metalens is a lens made using metasurface technology. A metasurface is a planar optical component designed at the nanometer (nm) scale with small geometric features on the surface. In some cases, the small geometric features can control the transmission, polarization, and phase of light passing through the metalens. In an illustrative example, the small geometric features that make up the metalens may include columns or pillars (sometimes referred to as nanopillars). In some cases, the effect on light passing through the pillars may depend on the geometry of the pillars, such as the height of the pillars, the diameter of the pillars, and the pitch of the pillars. In some implementations, the pillars may have a constant height, and the effect on light passing through the pillars may be varied by providing pillars of different diameters.

[0028] In some cases, electron beam (e-beam) lithography can be used to manufacture metalenses in a piece-by-piece manner. In electron beam lithography for manufacturing metalenses, a focused electron beam can be scanned across the surface of a substrate to produce a pattern corresponding to a desired metasurface structure. In some cases, the surface of the substrate may be coated with a resist material that changes properties when exposed to electron beam energy. Depending on the type of resist material used, the exposed resist material or the unexposed resist material can be selectively removed, while the other portion remains on the surface of the substrate. In the case where the resist material is selectively removed, the substrate can be exposed and the substrate can be etched (e.g., by wet etching, dry etching, reactive ion etching (RIE), etc.) to remove a portion of the substrate material. In some cases, the etching process can produce geometric features of the metasurface on the surface of the substrate material to form a metalense. In some cases, the manufacturing process may be time-consuming and expensive because the geometric features of the metasurface must be patterned onto the resist material by directing the focused electron beam to the resist material.

[0029] Systems, apparatus, processes (also referred to as methods), and computer-readable media (collectively, "systems and techniques") for fabricating metalenses and optical systems including metalenses in a scalable manner are described herein. For example, semiconductor manufacturing techniques are used to produce multiple devices (e.g., microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits, etc.) simultaneously on a single silicon wafer. In contrast to the electron beam lithography techniques described above, the features fabricated on the surface of the silicon wafer are not individually drawn. Instead, the features of the device (or negative representations of the features) can be patterned onto a mask. The features of a single device can be repeated in an array to fill an area (or a portion of an area) of the surface of the silicon wafer with multiple devices. With a single exposure, the pattern on the mask can be transferred to a photosensitive resist (photoresist) material. In the case of semiconductor manufacturing, multiple masks can be used to fabricate different features of a device, such as metal layers, transistors, passivation layers, mechanical structures, etc. Therefore, it would be advantageous if the lithography process used to fabricate semiconductors could also be used to fabricate metalenses.

[0030] In some cases, wafer-level fabrication of metalenses (e.g., metalens cameras) may include the use of metasurfaces made of silicon (ultra-thin flat elements that replace conventional lenses) for very cost-effective integration into depth sensors. Silicon is transparent to light and has a high refractive index at short-wave infrared (SWIR) wavelengths (e.g., 1100nm-2500nm). In addition, metalenses can be efficiently designed for narrow-band light (e.g., one wavelength), which can be a use case for depth sensors that use lasers for illumination. Therefore, SWIR depth sensors are a good use case for metalenses. Using a silicon metalens on top of a bridge / air gap spacer on top of a sensor (e.g., GeSi or InGaAs), on top of a digital image processing unit, may allow for the fabrication of a low-cost monolithic silicon depth sensor unit.

[0031] Systems and techniques can be built on wafer-scale fabrication of such metalenses to enable more complex optical systems in an even more compact and cost-effective manner. For example, the air gap can be removed and replaced by a silicon or in some cases a simple bulk silicon wafer of a sensor (e.g., a backside illuminated sensor (BSI)).

[0032] Replacing the air gap with a silicon spacer can have several advantages. As described above, silicon is transparent at SWIR wavelengths (e.g., greater than 1100nm), so it does not affect any optical properties of the sensor. In manufacturing, the process will include stacking two or more flat surfaces, which can be easily done during the manufacturing process. Silicon has a high refractive index (e.g., about 3.4), which means that the thickness of the spacer can be reduced by 3.4 (or other values ​​associated with the refractive index) relative to the air gap spacer (e.g., 1 millimeter (mm) instead of 3.4mm distance between the lens and the effective sensor area), resulting in a more compact sensor. In addition, it is easier to stack a flat surface on top of a flat surface, and neither alignment nor design and manufacture of a specific air gap spacer wafer is required, thereby driving complexity and cost reduction. When a more complex optical system needs to be designed, several metalenses can be stacked and interleaved on a flat silicon spacer. Some lens systems include several lenses (e.g., 5-10 lenses), and the systems and techniques described herein can allow the optical performance of metalens sensors to be significantly improved when needed. Furthermore, the system and technique provide versatility in that the order of the elements can be changed if desired, such as placing an optical filter before or after it.

[0033] Various aspects of the technology described herein will be discussed below with respect to the various figures. Figure 1A and Figure 1B A view of an exemplary metalens is illustrated. Figure 1AIn the illustrated example, the metalens 100 includes a substrate 102 (also referred to as a base) having a plurality of pillars 118, the plurality of pillars including pillars 104, 106, 108 disposed on a surface of the substrate 102. In some cases, the pillars 118 may be an example of nanoscale geometric structures that form a metasurface. The pillars 104, 106, 108 may be nanostructures having nanoscale heights. In some implementations, the height of the nanostructures (e.g., pillars 118) may be on the order of the wavelength of light associated with a particular application. In one illustrative example, for a metalens in a SWIR application (e.g., for wavelengths between 1380 nanometers (nm) and 1550 nm), a pillar height between 1100 nm and 1200 nm may be used. In another illustrative example, for a metalens in a visible light application (e.g., for wavelengths between 350 nm and 800 nm), a pillar height between 300 nm and 400 nm may be used. In some implementations, the pillars 104, 106, and 108 may have a common height H. In Figure 1A In the illustrated example, posts 104, 106, 108 may have different diameters, with post 104 being shown as having the smallest diameter, post 106 being shown as having a larger diameter than post 104, and post 108 being shown as having a larger diameter than both posts 104 and 106. Figure 1A In the illustration of , additional pillars of different sizes disposed on the substrate 102 are also shown. Figure 1A Light pillars 110 are illustrated incident on metalens 100. As will be explained in more detail below, the pillars of metalens 100 (including pillars 104, 106, 108) can phase shift the light rays of light pillars 110 so that the light rays incident on light pillars 110 converge to a focal point 112 having a common phase. In some cases, the light pillars are collimated. In some cases, the distance between metalens 100 and focal point 112 can be referred to as the focal length of metalens 100. Although examples of the present disclosure include exemplary metalenses that utilize pillars 118 as geometric features that form a metasurface that forms a metalens, the systems and techniques described herein can be used with metalenses that include features other than pillars without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figure 1B A side view of an exemplary metalens 130 that can be configured to focus light at a focal point 132 is illustrated. In some cases, the metalens 130 may include a plurality of pillars 131 located on one surface of the metalens 130 (the plurality of pillars may correspond to Figure 1A Column 118 shown in FIG. Figure 1B The column 118 shown in the figure is for illustration purposes only and is not shown to scale. Figure 1B The number, height, diameter, and / or pitch of the pillars 118 shown in FIG. 1 are provided as examples only. Other metalens configurations may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, Figure 1B Each individual one of the pillars 118 shown in FIG. 1 may represent a group of pillars in a metalens. Figure 1B In the illustrated example, rods 136A, 136B, 136C may provide different phase delays to incident light. For example, light passing through rod 136B will experience a greater phase delay than rod 136A or rod 136C. In some cases, rods 136A, 136B, 136C may represent a group of rods that provide different phase delays to incident light. Figure 1B In the illustrated example, light rays 134A, 134B, 134C may be incident on metalens 130. Figure 1B In the illustrated example, light ray 134A passes through first column 136A, light ray 134B passes through second column 136B, and light ray 134C passes through third column 136C. Light rays 138A, 138B, 138C represent the paths of light rays 134A, 134B, 134C after passing through respective columns 136A, 136B, 136C. Figure 1B As illustrated, light rays 138A and 138C travel from the edge of metalens 130 and may travel a greater distance than light ray 138B to reach focal point 132. In some implementations, each of posts 136A, 136B, 136C may be configured with a phase shift so that each of light rays 138A, 138B, 138C arrives at focal point 132 at the same phase. The phase shift experienced by light rays (e.g., 134A, 134B, 134C) passing through posts 136A, 136B, 136C may be controlled according to the geometry of posts 136A, 136B, 136C. In some cases, the amount of phase shift experienced by light passing through posts 118 may depend on the height H, the diameter D, the wavelength of the light, the angle of incidence, and the polarization of the light passing through the posts.

[0035] Figure 2 An exemplary enlarged portion of metalens 200 is illustrated, illustrating a pattern of unit cells having varying pillar diameters. Figure 2 As illustrated, a low magnification horizontal view 202 of a metalens 200 shows a column 218 of the metalens 200 (which may correspond to the Figure 1A The pattern of pillars 118 shown in FIG. 1 may have a radially symmetric pattern extending from the center of metalens 200 to the periphery of metalens 200. Figure 2In the illustration of FIG. 2 , a line segment 204 is drawn extending radially from the center 206 of the metalens 200. Near the center 206 of the metalens 200, the diameter of the pillars 218 may have a maximum value. In an illustrative example, the diameter of the pillars 218 at the center of the metalens 200 may be approximately equal to or slightly less than the width U of the unit cell. Moving away from the center 206 of the metalens 200, the pillar size may decrease (providing a correspondingly smaller phase shift) relative to the pillars at the center 206 of the metalens until a phase reset point 208 is reached. At the phase reset point 208, the size of the pillars 218 may be reset to a maximum diameter. In some cases, the different diameters of the pillars 218 may produce a ring-like appearance. The medium magnification level 210 and the high magnification level 212 also illustrate the appearance of the pillars within the unit cell. As illustrated, the pillars 218 may be centered at a common pitch, and the diameter of the large pillars 220 may be slightly less than the width U of the unit cell 222 (depicted as white squares).

[0036] Figure 3 A side view of a composite lens 300 and a corresponding metalens 310 are illustrated, which may have similar optical properties. Figure 3 In the example of FIG. 3 , the composite lens 300 includes lens elements 302A, 302B, 302C, 302D, 302E and sensor cover glass 302F, which, when stacked together, can provide desired optical properties for a particular application. For example, the composite lens 300 can be designed to have a specific target focus range, a wide angle field of view, and a desired upper limit on spherical aberration and chromatic aberration, among other properties. In the composite lens 300, the various optical elements 302A, 302B, 302C, 302D, 302E, 302F can each refract incident light 306A, 306B, 306C, 306D in different ways, so that the overall effect of the optical elements 302A, 302B, 302C, 302D, 302E, 302F when stacked together provides the desired optical performance. In the illustrated example, the compound lens 300 is operable to focus incident light rays 306A, 306B, 306D, 306D at a focal plane 304. In some examples, an optical sensor (also referred to herein as an image sensor, image detector, or photosensitive device) may be positioned at the focal plane 304 to detect the incident light. Because multiple elements may be required to achieve the desired characteristics of the compound lens 300, the compound lens may significantly increase the height, weight, and / or cost of a device (e.g., a mobile device) that uses the compound lens 300. In some cases, a device may have more than one camera and other optical sensors, each of which may require multiple separate compound lenses.

[0037] In some cases, metalens 310 can be configured to perform similar optical properties as composite lens 300. In some implementations, a single-layer metalens 310 can provide desired optical properties for an imaging system (e.g., a camera, a range imager, etc.). In such cases, metalens 310 can provide significant weight and thickness savings relative to composite lens 300. Metalens 310 can include substrate 312 and pillars 314 (e.g., Figure 1A ). In some cases, light rays 316A, 316B, and 316C may arrive at metalens 310 from different angles after passing through aperture 306. Figure 3 As illustrated, metalens 310 can focus light at focal plane 318. In some examples, an optical sensor can be positioned at focal plane 318 to detect incident light. In some cases, the metalens 310 structure can be fabricated using electron beam (e-beam) lithography. In some aspects, e-beam lithography can be an expensive and time-consuming process because e-beam lithography draws the desired structure for each metalens individually. Therefore, mass manufacturing of metalenses using e-beam lithography can become too expensive and time-consuming.

[0038] FIG. 4A to FIG. 4E An exemplary process for manufacturing and assembling wafer stack 450 using wafer stacking technology is illustrated. Figure 4A A perspective view of a metalens wafer 402 is illustrated, with an enlarged portion 404 depicting an array of metalenses 406 fabricated on the metalens wafer 402. In some cases, each of the metalens 406 may correspond to Figure 1B The metalens 130 shown in Figure 3 The composite metalens 300 shown in Figure 3 , or any of the metalens 310 shown in . In some cases, metalens wafer 402 may include a silicon wafer. For example, metalens wafer 402 may include a double-sided polished silicon wafer. In some cases, metalens 406 may be fabricated on a silicon wafer using semiconductor fabrication techniques such as photolithography, reactive ion etching (RIE), etc. In some cases, metalens wafer 402 may include a material that is transparent to the visible spectrum (e.g., glass). In some cases, the pillars of metalens 406 may be fabricated using a material that is transparent to the visible spectrum (e.g., glass). Figure 1A In one illustrative example, the pillars may be formed using a high refractive index material such as titanium dioxide (TiO2).

[0039] Figure 4BA perspective view of an aperture wafer 412 is illustrated, with an enlarged portion 414 depicting a plurality of apertures 416 fabricated on a metalens wafer. In some cases, the aperture wafer may include a silicon wafer. In some cases, the aperture wafer 412 may include a material (e.g., glass) that is transparent to the visible light spectrum. In some cases, the plurality of apertures 416 may be fabricated by depositing an opaque material on a surface of the aperture wafer 412. In some cases, the opaque material may include any material that is opaque at a wavelength (or wavelength range) of a particular optical detection application. Exemplary optical detection applications may include visible light applications (e.g., 350nm-750nm), near infrared (NIR) applications (e.g., 750nm-1000nm), SWIR applications (e.g., 1000nm-2500nm), and the like.

[0040] Figure 4C A perspective view of a spacer wafer 422 is illustrated, with an enlarged portion 424 depicting a pattern of spacer structures 426 fabricated on the spacer wafer 422. In some cases, the spacer wafer 422 may include a silicon wafer. In some cases, the spacer wafer 422 may include a material transparent to the visible light spectrum (e.g., glass). In some cases, the spacer wafer may be made of a material transparent to SWIR light (e.g., silicon). In some cases, the spacer structures 426 may be fabricated from a dielectric material (e.g., polyimide). In some cases, the size and pitch of each of the spacer structures 426 may be equal to 100%. Figure 4A 4. In some cases, spacer structures 426 may include spacer material located in a border region corresponding to the outer border of metalenses 406. In some cases, each spacer structure 426 may form a border around a corresponding metalens 406 on metalens wafer 402. In some cases, each spacer structure 426 may form a border around a corresponding optical sensor 436 of optical sensor wafer 432.

[0041] Figure 4D A perspective view of optical sensor wafer 432 is illustrated, with enlarged portion 434 depicting optical sensor 436 disposed on optical sensor wafer 432. In some cases, optical sensor wafer 432 can include a silicon wafer. In some cases, optical sensor 436 can be fabricated on the silicon wafer using a GeSi CMOS process. In some cases, optical sensor 436 can include a photosensitive region 438. In some cases, optical sensor 436 can include additional circuitry 440. In some cases, additional circuitry 440 can include readout circuitry that can be used to read signals captured by the optical sensor.

[0042] Figure 4EA wafer stack 450 including an aperture wafer 412, a metalens wafer 402, a spacer wafer 422, and an optical sensor wafer 432 is illustrated. In some cases, the aperture wafer 412 may be coupled to a first side of the metalens wafer 402. In some cases, the metalens 406 on the metalens wafer 402 may be disposed on a second side of the metalens wafer 402 opposite the first side. In some cases, the distance between each of the plurality of apertures 416 and a corresponding metalens 406 in the metalens 406 may be equal to the sum of the thickness of the aperture wafer 412 and the thickness of the metalens wafer 402. In some applications, the distance between the plurality of apertures 416 and the metalens 406 may affect optical performance, such as depth of field. In some cases, based on the desired distance between the apertures 416 and the metalens 406, the aperture wafer 412 and / or the metalens wafer 402 may be polished to obtain a desired thickness.

[0043] In some cases, a first side of spacer wafer 422 may be coupled to a second side of metalens wafer 402 (e.g., a side on which metalens 406 is disposed). In some examples, a second side of spacer wafer 422 may be coupled to optical sensor wafer 432. In some cases, spacer structures 426 on spacer wafer 422 may be designed to be adjacent to metalens 406 on the first side of spacer wafer 422. In some cases, spacer structures 426 on spacer wafer 422 may be designed to be adjacent to optical sensor 436. In some cases, metalens 406 and optical sensor may be positioned within cavity 428 in spacer structure. In some cases, a desired distance between metalens 406 and optical sensor 436 may be equal to the back focal length (BFL) of metalens 406. In some cases, the thickness of spacer structure 426 may be used to separate metalens 406 and optical sensor 436 by the focal length of metalens 406. In some cases, wafer stacking can produce an array of metalenses 406, apertures 416, spacer structures 426, and optical sensors 436 having a common pitch. In some cases, by aligning wafers 402, 412, 422, and 432, modules each including a metalenses, an aperture, a spacer structure, and an optical sensor can be formed. In some cases, each aperture in aperture 416 can be positioned above a corresponding metalenses in metalenses 406. In some cases, the metalenses, apertures, and optical sensors of each metalenses module can be aligned with an optical axis. For example, the metalenses, apertures, and photosensitive regions of the optical sensors can each be centered on the optical axis of metalenses 406. In some cases, wafers 402, 412, 422, and 432 can be mechanically coupled using an epoxy. In some cases, an epoxy that is transparent to light of relevant wavelengths can be selected. For example, liquid optically clear adhesives (LOCA) can be used for visible light, NIR, and SWIR applications. In some cases, epoxy may be disposed only in areas of wafers 402 , 412 , 422 , and 432 through which light does not need to pass.

[0044] Figure 4F A cross-sectional view of wafer stack 450 is illustrated. As shown, aperture 462 of plurality of apertures 416 may be formed as an opening in opaque layer 464 disposed on aperture wafer 412. In some cases, in relation to Figure 4EDuring the wafer stacking process described, the aperture wafer 412 can be coupled to the metalens wafer 402. In some cases, the combined thickness of the aperture wafer 412 and the metalens wafer 402 can produce a spacing 660 between the aperture 416 on the aperture wafer 412 and the corresponding metalens 406 on the metalens wafer 402. In some implementations, the spacer structure 426 of the spacer wafer 422 can include a cavity 428. In some cases, the metalens 406 and the optical sensors 436 can be housed within the cavity 428. In some cases, the height of the spacer structure 426 can be configured to provide a spacing 466 that places each optical sensor 436 at the focal plane of the corresponding metalens 406. In some cases, the optical sensors 436 can include a photosensitive region 438 and additional circuitry 440 as described above. In some cases, the photosensitive region 438 and additional circuitry 440 can be fabricated on the surface of the optical sensor wafer 432.

[0045] FIG. 5A to FIG. 5D Illustrated is a method for making a metalens (e.g., Figure 4A 502). In the illustrated example, the mold may be formed of a metalens, such as a metalens fabricated using an electron beam lithography process on a silicon wafer as described above. In some cases, a mask or mold may be formed using a metalens. In some cases, a mask of a metalens may be copied into a metalens array and formed into a stamp 502. In some cases, stamp 502 may be used to transfer the pattern of the metalens array to a device layer 506 disposed above a substrate 508. In some cases, substrate 508 may be a material transparent to visible wavelength light, such as glass. In some cases, device layer 506 may include a transparent material that may be used to form a column of a metalens on substrate 508. In some cases, device layer 506 may include a high refractive index material. For example, in some cases, device layer 506 may include a material having a refractive index greater than 2. In some cases, device layer 506 may include a material having a refractive index greater than 2.5. In some cases, device layer 506 may include a material transparent to visible wavelength light. In one illustrative example, device layer 506 may include titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ).

[0046] Figure 5B The imprinting step of a process for making a metalens is illustrated. In some cases, stamp 502 can be pressed against polymer layer 504 to produce a negative pattern 510 of stamp 502 imprinted into the polymer layer. In some cases, negative pattern 510 can also be referred to as a nanoimprint. Figure 5CA negative pattern 510 is illustrated disposed on top of the device layer 506 after the stamp 502 is removed. In some cases, the polymer layer 504 may be heated until it softens, which may allow the stamp 502 to deform the polymer layer 504. In some cases, after the heat is removed, the polymer may be cooled until hardened. In some cases, after the polymer 504 cools, the stamp 502 may be removed, resulting in a negative pattern 510 imprinted into the polymer layer 504. In some cases, after the stamp 502 is removed, the polymer layer 504 may be exposed to light and / or baked to harden the polymer material and become etch-resistant. After the stamp 502 is removed, the device layer 506 may be etched (e.g., via wet etching, dry etching, RIE, or other etching techniques), and portions of the device layer 506 not covered and protected by the negative pattern 510 may be etched away and removed. After the etching of the device layer is completed, the remaining polymer layer 504 may be removed. For example, the polymer layer 504 may be removed by organic stripping, inorganic stripping, dry stripping, or any other suitable technique.

[0047] Figure 5D Illustrated is a metalens pattern 512 etched into the device layer 506 after removal of the polymer layer 504. In some cases, a single metalens can be formed on the substrate 508. In some cases, an array of metalens can be formed in the device layer 506. FIG. 5A to FIG. 5D The exemplary process illustrated may be referred to as a nanoimprint lithography process. The nanoimprint lithography process may be used as an alternative to using semiconductor manufacturing techniques to make metalenses. In some cases, metalenses made using nanoimprint lithography techniques may be included in a process similar to 4A to 4F and FIG. 8A to FIG. 8E In the wafer stack of the wafer stack illustrated in FIG.

[0048] Figure 6 Another exemplary wafer stack 600 that can be used to fabricate an optical system including a metalens (e.g., a metalens camera module) is illustrated. Stack 600 can include a stack of a BSI CMOS detector array and a ROIC ASIC wafer. For example, in some cases, a metalens wafer 602 (e.g., Figure 4A and Figure 4E The metalens wafer 402 shown in FIG. 6 may include a metalens array 603. Wafer stack 600 may also include a detector assembly wafer 606 and a control and processing assembly wafer 608 (e.g., an ROIC+RICA ASIC die array). As discussed above, the metalens wafer 602, the detector assembly wafer 606, and the control and processing assembly wafer 608 may be assembled using wafer stacking techniques. Figure 6 Although not shown, wafer stack 600 may also include an aperture wafer (e.g., Figure 4B ) and / or optical filters (e.g., FIG. 8A to FIG. 8E The optical filter 865 shown in FIG.

[0049] Metalens structures can be patterned onto glass and silicon substrates. The stacking of the silicon substrate of the BSI wafer and the metalens substrate can provide the desired height between the lens wafer surface and the sensor focal plane array, which can allow the best focus to be adjusted to form a clear image. In some cases, an aperture array substrate can be added on top of the metal lens array of the metalens wafer 602. In some cases, an optical filter substrate can be included in the stack 600.

[0050] FIG. 7A to FIG. 7C A perspective view of an exemplary wafer stack 700 that can be used to make a metalens camera module is illustrated. For example, FIG. 7A to FIG. 7C An example of this could be a fully integrated SWIR metalens array camera cube formed by stacking BSI CMOS imager wafers. Fig. 7A The illustrated stack 700 includes a metalens 704 , a detector assembly 708 , and a control and processing assembly 714 disposed on a substrate 702 .

[0051] exist Fig. 7A In the illustrated example, the detector assembly 708 may include a detector array 710 and a line scanner 712. In some cases, the detector array 710 may include photosensitive elements that can detect light having a specific wavelength or range of wavelengths. For example, in some cases, the detector array may include photosensitive elements that can detect light at SWIR wavelengths. In an illustrative example, the photosensitive elements may detect light within a narrow band centered around a wavelength of approximately 1400 nm. In some aspects, the detector array 710 may include photosensitive elements that can detect visible light. In some cases, the line scanner 712 may be configured to scan the photosensitive elements in a scanning pattern to read an electrical signal (e.g., voltage, current, etc.) corresponding to the amount of light detected by each photosensitive element during a specific time period (e.g., an exposure period).

[0052] exist Fig. 7A In the illustrated example, the control and processing components 714 may include a timing control component 716, a reconfigurable instruction cell array (RICA) 718, and a readout integrated circuit (ROIC) 720. In some cases, the timing control component 716 may provide control signals to one or more components of the metalens stack 700. For example, the timing control component may provide timing signals to control the operation of the line scanner 712, the ROIC 720, and / or any other components included in the metalens stack 700. In some aspects, the timing control component 716 may also provide timing signals to other components in a device incorporating the metalens stack 700.

[0053] In some cases, RICA 718 can be used to perform local image processing operations without passing image data to a processing unit over a bus. In some cases, RICA can generate a depth map, stitch together multiple frames (or portions of frames) of image data, generate a composite image from multiple captured images (or portions of images), and perform other image processing operations. As described above, in some cases, all of the components that form stack 700 can be manufactured using semiconductor manufacturing processes and assembled in a single wafer stacking process.

[0054] Figure 7B and Figure 7C Exemplary assembly steps that may be used to fabricate metalens stack 700 are illustrated. Figure 7B In the example of , the detector component 708 and the control and processing component 714 can be mechanically and electrically coupled together to form a sensor chip 722. In some cases, electrical signals can be sent and received between the detector component 708 and the control and processing component 714 via electrical connections. Figure 7C Substrate 702 is illustrated as being assembled with sensor chip 722 to form metalens camera module 724. Although not shown, metalens camera module 724 may also include an aperture, an optical filter, and / or additional spacer structures as described herein. For example, a supplemental spacer structure (not shown) may be provided on detector assembly 708 (or on a substrate including detector assembly 708) to provide spacing between the optical filter and the detector assembly.

[0055] FIG. 8A to FIG. 8E Cross-sectional views of different exemplary wafer stacking configurations are illustrated. FIG. 8A to FIG. 8E Examples include the use of the above 4A to 4F The reference numerals mark the components, and Figures 8A to 8E The components shown in can be similar to 4A to 4F Components with the same number in the same file and perform similar functions. Fig. 8A Wafer stack 870 including optical filter 865 is illustrated. In some cases, optical filter 865 can be a bandpass optical filter. In one illustrative example, optical filter 865 can be configured to pass light at SWIR wavelengths (e.g., in a narrow band of approximately 1400 nm) while attenuating light at all other wavelengths. Fig. 8A In the example of FIG. 4 , the optical filter 865 is disposed between the aperture wafer 412 and the metalens wafer 402. In this configuration, the spacing 860 between the aperture 416 and the optical sensor 436 may be equal to the combined thickness of the aperture wafer 412, the optical filter 865, and the metalens wafer 402.

[0056] Figure 8BAn exemplary wafer stack 872 is illustrated that includes an optical filter 865 disposed between a metalens wafer 402 and a spacer wafer 422. In some cases, placing the optical filter 865 after the metalens wafer 402 in the stack 872 can cause light to be incident perpendicularly on the optical filter 865. Thus, in some cases, placing the optical filter 865 after the metalens wafer 402 in the stack 872 can reduce the blue shift of the optical filter 865, and a narrower band optical filter 865 can be used. In some cases, the metalens wafer 402 can include an additional spacer structure 873 that can be coupled to the optical filter 865 to provide a column of the metalens 406 (e.g., above Figure 1A 4 and 865. In some cases, additional spacer structures 873 may be fabricated on a metalens wafer as part of the same fabrication process used to fabricate metalens 406 on a metalens wafer. In some cases, distance 875 between metalens 406 and optical sensor 436 may be the sum of the heights of additional spacer structures 873, optical filter 865, and spacer structures 426 of spacer wafer 422. Figure 8B In an exemplary configuration, the distance 875 between the metalens 406 and the corresponding optical sensor 436 can be configured to be equal to the back focal length of the metalens 406.

[0057] Figure 8C An exemplary wafer stack 874 is illustrated. The wafer stack 874 may include Fig. 8A 874, the optical sensor wafer 432 may be omitted from the stack 870. In some cases, the wafer stack 874 may be used to fabricate a metalens module that may later be separately coupled to an optical sensor. For example, a separate metalens module may be formed by die-cutting the wafer stack 874 along the die-cut line 877.

[0058] Fig.8D An example of a metalens camera module 876 is illustrated. As used herein, a metalens camera module may include any optical system that incorporates a metalens as a component. In some cases, the metalens camera module may be formed by die cutting. Fig. 8A 870 is used to form a metalens camera module 876. In some cases, the metalens camera module 876 can be formed by Figure 8C The depicted metalens module is coupled with an optical detector 878 on a substrate 880 to form a metalens camera module 876.

[0059] Fig. 8E Another example of a metalens camera module 882 is illustrated. In some cases, the Figure 8B 872 to form a metalens module 882. In some examples, a metalens camera module 882 may be formed from a metalens module die-cut from a wafer stack similar to wafer stack 872 that omits optical sensor wafer 432. In such examples, a metalens camera module 882 may be formed by coupling the metalens module with an optical detector 878 on substrate 880.

[0060] Fig. 9A and Fig. 9B is a diagram illustrating a cross-section of an exemplary metalens array on a stacked imager wafer. Fig. 9A and Fig. 9B The stacking configuration may include an example of a SWIR metalens array on a stacked CMOS imager wafer. The stacking configuration may include a stacked fully integrated BSI wafer without the need for an air gap spacer wafer. As previously described, Fig. 8A A cross-sectional view of a wafer stack configuration including an air gap spacer wafer (eg, a single-sided metalens structure wafer integrated onto a SWIR FSI detector array wafer bonded to a silicon ROIC wafer and an air gap spacer wafer) is illustrated. Fig. 9A and Fig. 9B A stacking configuration that does not include a spacer wafer is illustrated. For example, Fig. 9A 865, stacked on a metalens wafer 402, stacked on a BSI optical sensor (or detector) wafer 432, and stacked on an array wafer and / or ROIC wafer 902. In one illustrative example, Fig. 9A The stacking configuration 900 may include a single-sided metalens structure wafer stacked on a SWIR BSI optical sensor wafer 432 and a silicon ROIC ASIC wafer 902 without a spacer wafer. Fig. 9B is a stacked configuration 952, which includes an aperture wafer 412 stacked on an optical filter wafer 865, stacked on a double-sided metalens wafer 952, stacked on a BSI optical sensor (or detector) wafer 432, stacked on an array wafer and / or ROIC wafer 902. In one illustrative example, Fig. 9B The stacked configuration may include a double-sided metalens structure wafer 952 stacked on the SWIR BSI optical sensor array 432 and the silicon ROIC ASIC wafer 902 without a spacer wafer. In some cases, the double-sided metalens wafer 952 may be formed, for example, by using a process for forming a single-sided metalens wafer (such as metalens wafer 402) on both sides of the double-sided metalens wafer 952.

[0061] As discussed above, the air gap provided by the silicon spacer can be replaced by a solid wafer of glass and / or silicon. In some cases, rather than including a separate flat spacer stacked on the optical sensor wafer 432, the spacer can be directly integrated with the sensor wafer 432. For example, Figure 4F , Fig. 8A , Figure 8B Optical sensor 436, Fig.8D and Fig. 8E In contrast to optical detectors 878 of the optical sensor wafer 432 (wherein optical sensors / detectors 436 / 878 are exposed on the top surface of the optical sensor wafer 432 (e.g., the surface of the optical sensor 904 facing the lens / metalens)), the optical sensors 904 may be encapsulated / embedded in the optical sensor wafer 432 such that the optical sensors 904 are directly covered by a solid cover (e.g., without an air gap). In some cases, such as Fig. 9A As shown in stacked configuration 900 of FIG. 4 , the bottom surface of optical sensor 904 (e.g., the surface of optical sensor 904 facing away from the lens / metalens) may not be flush with the bottom surface of optical sensor wafer 432 (e.g., the surface of optical sensor wafer 432 facing away from the lens / metalens). In other cases, the bottom surface of optical sensor 904 may be exposed at the bottom of optical sensor wafer 432, such as Fig. 9B The stacking configuration 950 is shown in FIG.

[0062] In some cases, the optical sensor 904 can be encapsulated / embedded in the optical sensor wafer 432 by reducing the amount of grinding of the optical sensor wafer 432 during manufacturing. For example, when producing an optical sensor for visible light, the optical sensor can be etched / deposited / stacked / etc. in the optical sensor wafer 432 below the top surface of the optical sensor wafer 432. During production, the optical sensor wafer 432 can be ground to expose the top surface of the optical sensor because silicon (e.g., of the optical sensor wafer 432) can absorb light at visible wavelengths. However, since silicon is transparent at SWIR wavelengths, the top surface of the optical sensor 904 can be directly covered (e.g., covered without an air gap) by a silicon layer. The silicon (or glass) cover layer can be a solid spacer covering (e.g., on top of) the optical sensor 904.

[0063] In some cases, a portion of the optical sensor wafer 432 may act as a solid spacer cover. For example, rather than grinding the optical sensor wafer 432 until the optical sensors 904 are exposed, the optical sensor wafer 432 may be polished / ground so that an appropriate amount of silicon may remain on the optical sensors 904 to act as a spacer. In some examples, the optical sensor wafer 432 may be pre-ground / polished flat and the optical sensors may be fabricated at appropriate locations within the optical sensor wafer 432 so that an appropriate amount of silicon may remain on the optical sensors 904 to act as a solid spacer.

[0064] FIG. 10A to FIG. 10E is a diagram illustrating a cross section of an exemplary metalens camera cube configuration including single-sided and double-sided metalens configurations. For example, Fig. 10A and Fig. 10B A metalens camera cube configuration with a shorter metalens focal length is illustrated, for example, where Fig. 10C In contrast, the metalens wafer 432 is positioned relatively close to the optical sensor 904, while Fig. 10C , the metalens wafer 402 is positioned relatively far away from the optical sensor 904. In addition, Fig. 10B A configuration is illustrated in which the optical filter 865 is disposed between the metalens wafer 402 and the optical sensor wafer 432 (eg, a solid cover overlying the optical sensors 904). Fig. 10C Example with a longer metalens focal length (compared to Fig. 10A and Fig. 10B The focal length of the metalens is compared to that of the metalens in the cube configuration. Fig. 10D A metalens camera cube configuration with a relatively short focal length and a double-sided metalens 952 is illustrated. Fig. 10E A metalens camera cube configuration is illustrated with multiple stacked metalenses 1002 and a relatively short focal length.

[0065] Systems and techniques can be built on wafer-level fabrication of such metalenses, thereby enabling more complex optical systems in an even more compact and cost-effective manner. For example, the air gap can be replaced by silicon (e.g., silicon of an optical sensor wafer) of a sensor (e.g., a back-illuminated sensor (BSI)), or in some cases by a simple bulk silicon wafer. For example, a bulk silicon wafer (or glass wafer) of appropriate thickness can be stacked on (e.g., flush with) the optical sensor 904 with an exposed top surface (e.g., the optical sensor can be covered with a solid spacer). In this case, the optical sensor wafer 432 can be ground so that the optical sensor 904 is exposed on the top surface of the optical sensor wafer 432, and the bulk silicon wafer (or glass wafer) is stacked directly on top of the optical sensor wafer 432 and the optical sensor 904.

[0066] like 9A to 10E As shown in the example of , removing the air gap (and in some cases replacing the air gap with a silicon spacer) can have advantages over other types of metalens configurations. For example, because silicon is transparent at SWIR wavelengths (e.g., greater than 1300 nm), including a silicon spacer will not affect any optical properties of the sensor. This solution will allow manufacturing to perform the simple task of stacking two or more flat surfaces. Moreover, because silicon has a high refractive index (e.g., about 3.4), the thickness of the spacer can be reduced by the refractive index amount (e.g., 3.4) relative to the air gap spacer (e.g., 1 millimeter (mm) instead of a 3.4 mm distance between the lens and the active sensor area), thereby allowing for the manufacture of a more compact sensor. In addition, it is easier to stack a flat surface on top of a flat surface, and neither as much alignment nor the design and manufacture of a specific air gap spacer wafer is required, thereby potentially reducing the complexity and cost of the metalens sensor.

[0067] like 9A to 10E As shown in various examples of , when it is necessary to design a more complex optical system, several metalenses can be stacked and interleaved on top of a flat silicon spacer. Some lens systems include multiple lenses (e.g., 5-10 lenses), and 9A to 10E The configuration can allow the optical performance of the metalens sensor to be significantly improved when needed. In addition, the system and technology provide versatility, in which the order of the elements can be changed if necessary, such as placing an optical filter before or after it.

[0068] Fig.11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system for implementing certain aspects of the disclosed technology. Specifically, Fig.11 An example of a computing system 1100 is illustrated, which may be any computing device, for example, constituting an internal computing system, a remote computing system, a camera, or any components thereof, wherein the components of the system communicate with each other using a connection 1105. The connection 1105 may be a physical connection using a bus, or a direct connection into the processor 1110, such as in a chipset architecture. The connection 1105 may also be a virtual connection, a networked connection, or a logical connection.

[0069] In some embodiments, computing system 1100 is a distributed system, where the functionality described in the present disclosure may be distributed within a data center, multiple data centers, a peer-to-peer network, etc. In some embodiments, one or more of the described system components represent a number of such components that each perform some or all of the functionality for which the component is described. In some embodiments, a component may be a physical device or a virtual device.

[0070] The example system 1100 includes at least one processing unit (CPU or processor) 1110 and connections 1105 that couple various system components including system memory 1115, such as read only memory (ROM) 1120 and random access memory (RAM) 1125, to the processor 1110. The computing system 1100 may include a cache 1112 of high-speed memory directly connected to, in close proximity to, or integrated as part of the processor 1110.

[0071] Processor 1110 may include any general purpose processor and hardware or software services, such as services 1132, 1134, and 1136 stored in storage device 1130, that are configured to control processor 1110 as well as a dedicated processor where software instructions are incorporated into the actual processor design. Processor 1110 may essentially be a completely independent computing system containing multiple cores or processors, buses, memory controllers, caches, etc. Multi-core processors may be symmetric or asymmetric.

[0072] To enable user interaction, the computing system 1100 includes an input device 1145 that can represent any number of input mechanisms, such as a microphone for voice, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphical input, a keyboard, a mouse, motion input, voice, a camera for visual input, and the like. The computing system 1100 may also include an output device 1135 that can be one or more of a plurality of output mechanisms. In some cases, a multimodal system may enable a user to provide multiple types of input / output to communicate with the computing system 1100. The computing system 1100 may include a communication interface 1140, which may generally govern and manage user input and system output. The communication interface may perform or facilitate receiving and / or sending wired or wireless communications using a wired and / or wireless transceiver, including utilizing an audio jack / plug, a microphone jack / plug, a universal serial bus (USB) port / plug, Ports / plugs, Ethernet ports / plugs, Fiber optic ports / plugs, Dedicated wired ports / plugs, Wireless signal transmission, Low energy (BLE) wireless signal transmission, Wireless signaling, radio frequency identification (RFID) wireless signaling, near field communication (NFC) wireless signaling, dedicated short range communication (DSRC) wireless signaling, 802.11 Wi-Fi wireless signaling, wireless local area network (WLAN) signaling, visible light communication (VLC), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), infrared (IR) communication wireless signaling, public switched telephone network (PSTN) signaling, integrated services digital network (ISDN) signaling, 3G / 4G / 5G / LTE cellular data network wireless signaling, ad hoc network signaling, radio wave signaling, microwave signaling, infrared signaling, visible light signaling, ultraviolet light signaling, wireless signaling along the electromagnetic spectrum, or some combination thereof. The communication interface 1140 may also include one or more global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers or transceivers for determining the location of the computing system 1100 based on receiving one or more signals from one or more satellites associated with one or more GNSS systems. GNSS systems include, but are not limited to, the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and Europe's Galileo GNSS. There is no restriction to operating on any particular hardware arrangement, and thus the base features herein may be easily substituted for improved hardware or firmware arrangements as they are developed.

[0073] The storage device 1130 may be a non-volatile and / or non-transitory and / or computer-readable memory device, and may be a hard disk or other type of computer-readable medium that can store data that can be accessed by a computer, such as a magnetic tape cartridge, a flash memory card, a solid-state memory device, a digital versatile disk, a cassette, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape, a magnetic stripe / strip, any other magnetic storage medium, a flash memory, a memristor memory, any other solid-state memory, a compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM) optical disk, a rewritable compact disk (CD) optical disk, a digital video disk (DVD) optical disk, a Blu-ray disc (BDD) optical disk, a holographic optical disk, another optical medium, a secure digital (SD) card, a micro secure digital (microSD) card, card, a smart card chip, an EMV chip, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a mini / micro / nano / pico SIM card, another integrated circuit (IC) chip / card, a random access memory (RAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a flash EPROM (FLASHEPROM), a cache memory (L1 / L2 / L3 / L4 / L5 / L#), a resistive random access memory (RRAM / ReRAM), a phase change memory (PCM), a spin-transfer torque RAM (STT-RAM), another memory chip or box, and / or a combination thereof.

[0074] Storage device 1130 may include software services, servers, services, etc., which, when the code defining such software is executed by processor 1110, causes the system to perform functions. In some embodiments, hardware services that perform specific functions may include software components for performing functions stored in a computer-readable medium connected to necessary hardware components such as processor 1110, connection 1105, output device 1135, etc.

[0075] Fig.12 1 is a flow chart illustrating an imaging process using metalens 1200 according to aspects of the present disclosure. Process 700 may be performed by a computing device (or apparatus) or a component (e.g., a chipset, a codec, a lens, a substrate layer, etc.) of a computing device (such as Fig. 9A , Fig. 9B and FIG. 10A to FIG. 10E The metalens assembly shown in Fig.11 processor 1110, Fig.11 The computing device may be a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone), a networked wearable device such as a watch, an extended reality (XR) device such as a virtual reality (VR) device or an augmented reality (AR) device, a vehicle or a component or system of a vehicle, or other types of computing devices.

[0076] At block 1202, a computing device (or a component thereof) may be provided on a first substrate (eg, Figure 4A , Figure 4E , Figure 4F , FIG. 9A to FIG. 9B and FIG. 10A to FIG. 10E The metalens chip 402, Fig. 9B and Fig. 10D The first substrate includes a first super lens (e.g., Figure 1A Super Lens 100, Figure 2 The super lens 200, Figure 3 Super Lens 310, Figure 4A In some cases, the first substrate further includes a second metalens (e.g., Fig. 9B , Fig. 10D and Fig. 10E middle).

[0077] At block 1204, a computing device (or a component thereof) may be provided on a second substrate (eg, Figure 4D , FIG. 9A to FIG. 9B , Fig. 10A 10F, etc.) receives a first portion of the light at an optical sensor wafer 432), the second substrate comprising an optical sensor, wherein: the optical sensor is directly covered by a solid cover, and the first substrate is mechanically coupled to the second substrate such that the solid cover is between the first substrate and the second substrate. In some cases, the solid cover includes a portion of the second substrate. In some examples, the second substrate includes a silicon substrate. In some cases, the solid cover includes a silicon substrate. In some examples, the solid cover includes glass. In some cases, the solid cover includes a third substrate disposed on the second substrate, and wherein the third substrate is mechanically coupled to the second substrate. In some examples, an optical filter (e.g., FIG. 9A to FIG. 9B , Fig. 10B In some cases, the optical filter is located between the solid cover and the first substrate. In some examples, the optical sensor includes a back-illuminated optical sensor. In some cases, the optical sensor is flush with the solid cover.

[0078] At block 1206, the computing device (or a component thereof) may be configured to receive an optical sensor (e.g., FIG. 9A to FIG. 9B , Fig. 10B The computing device (or a component thereof) may be configured to receive at least a second portion of the light focused by the first metalens through the solid cover. In some cases, the computing device (or a component thereof) may generate an image using at least the second portion of the light focused by the first metalens and output the image.

[0079] As used herein, the term "computer-readable medium" includes, but is not limited to, portable or non-portable storage devices, optical storage devices, and various other media capable of storing, containing, or carrying instructions and / or data. Computer-readable media may include non-transient media in which data may be stored and does not include carrier waves and / or transient electronic signals that are propagated wirelessly or on a wired connection. Examples of non-transient media may include, but are not limited to, disks or tapes, optical storage media (such as compact discs (CDs) or digital versatile discs (DVDs)), flash memory, memory, or memory devices. Computer-readable media may store thereon codes and / or machine-executable instructions that may represent procedures, functions, subroutines, programs, routines, subroutines, modules, software packages, categories, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and / or receiving information, data, independent variables, parameters, or memory contents. Information, independent variables, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or sent using any suitable means, including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network sending, etc.

[0080] In some embodiments, computer-readable storage devices, media, and memories may include wired or wireless signals including bit streams, etc. However, when referred to, non-transitory computer-readable storage media specifically excludes media such as power consumption, carrier signals, electromagnetic waves, and signals themselves.

[0081] Specific details are provided in the above description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments and examples provided herein. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For clarity, in some cases, the present technology may be presented as including separate functional blocks, including functional blocks comprising devices, device components, steps or routines in the method embodied in a combination of software or hardware and software. Additional components other than those components shown in the accompanying drawings and / or described herein may be used. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form to avoid obscuring these embodiments in unnecessary details. In other cases, known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures and techniques may be shown without unnecessary details to avoid confusing each embodiment.

[0082] Individual embodiments may be described above as processes or methods depicted as flow charts, flow diagrams, data flow diagrams, structure diagrams, or block diagrams. Although flow charts may describe operations as sequential processes, many of the operations may be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be rearranged. The process is terminated when the operations of the process are completed, but the process may have additional steps not included in the accompanying drawings. A process may correspond to a method, function, procedure, subroutine, subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, the termination of the process may correspond to the function returning to the calling function or main function.

[0083] The processes and methods according to the above examples can be implemented using stored computer executable instructions or otherwise obtained from computer readable media. Such instructions may include, for example, instructions and data that configure a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or a processing device to perform a certain function or group of functions. Portions of the computer resources used may be accessed over a network. Computer executable instructions may be, for example, binary, intermediate format instructions, such as assembly language, firmware, source code, etc. Examples of computer readable media that can be used to store instructions, information used, and / or information created during the methods according to the described examples include disks or optical disks, flash memory, USB devices with non-volatile memory, networked storage devices, etc.

[0084] Devices implementing the processes and methods according to these disclosures may include hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof, and may take any of a variety of form factors. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, program code or code segments (e.g., computer program products) for performing necessary tasks may be stored in a computer-readable or machine-readable medium. The processor may perform the necessary tasks. Typical examples of form factors include laptop computers, smart phones, mobile phones, tablet devices, or other small form factor personal computers, personal digital assistants, rack-mounted devices, stand-alone devices, etc. The functionality described herein may also be embodied in peripheral devices or add-in cards. By way of additional examples, such functionality may also be implemented on circuit boards among different chips or different processes executed on a single device.

[0085] Instructions, media for conveying such instructions, computing resources for executing them, and other structures for supporting such computing resources are example means for providing the functionality described in this disclosure.

[0086] In the foregoing description, various aspects of the present application are described with reference to the specific embodiments of the present application, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the present application is not limited thereto. Thus, although the exemplary embodiments of the present application have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concept can be embodied and adopted in various other ways, and the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including such variations, unless limited by the prior art. Various features and aspects of the above-mentioned applications can be used individually or in combination. In addition, without departing from the broader essence and scope of this specification, the embodiments can be used in any number of environments and applications beyond the environments and applications described herein. Therefore, the description and the accompanying drawings should be considered as illustrative rather than restrictive. For the purpose of illustration, each method is described in a specific order. It should be understood that in an alternative embodiment, each method can be performed in a different order than described.

[0087] It should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the less than ("<") and greater than (">") symbols or terms used herein may be replaced by less than or equal to ("≤") and greater than or equal to ("≥") symbols, respectively, without departing from the scope of the present specification.

[0088] Where a component is described as being “configured to” perform certain operations, such configuration may be achieved, for example, by designing electronic circuits or other hardware to perform the operations, by programming programmable electronic circuits (e.g., a microprocessor or other suitable electronic circuits) to perform the operations, or any combination thereof.

[0089] The phrase "coupled to" means that any component is directly or indirectly physically connected to another component, and / or any component is directly or indirectly in communication with another component (e.g., connected to another component via a wired or wireless connection and / or other suitable communication interface).

[0090] Claim language or other language reciting "at least one of" a set and / or "one or more of" a set indicates that one member of the set or multiple members of the set (in any combination) satisfies the claim. For example, claim language reciting "at least one of A and B" or "at least one of A or B" means A, B, or A and B. In another example, claim language reciting "at least one of A, B, and C" or "at least one of A, B, or C" means A, B, C, or A and B, or A and C, or B and C, or A and B and C. The language "at least one of" a set and / or "one or more of" a set does not limit the set to the items listed in the set. For example, claim language reciting "at least one of A and B" or "at least one of A or B" may mean A, B, or A and B, and may additionally include items not listed in the set of A and B.

[0091] Various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits and algorithmic steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, firmware or a combination thereof. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various exemplary components, frames, modules, circuits and steps have been generally described above in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints proposed to the entire system. The technician can implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be interpreted as making it depart from the scope of the present application.

[0092] The techniques described herein may also be implemented in electronic hardware, computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof. Such techniques may be implemented in any of a variety of devices, such as general-purpose computers, wireless communication device mobile phones, or integrated circuit devices with multiple uses, including applications in wireless communication device mobile phones and other devices. Any features described as modules or components may be implemented together in an integrated logic device or separately as discrete but interoperable logic devices. If implemented in software, these techniques may be implemented at least in part by a computer-readable data storage medium including a program code, the program code including instructions, which execute one or more of the above methods when executed. A computer-readable data storage medium may form part of a computer program product, which may include packaging materials. A computer-readable medium may include a memory or data storage medium, such as a random access memory (RAM) (such as a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM)), a read-only memory (ROM), a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a flash memory, a magnetic or optical data storage medium, etc. Additionally or alternatively, the technology may be implemented at least in part by a computer-readable communication medium that carries or communicates program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed, read, and / or executed by a computer, such as a propagated signal or wave.

[0093] The program code may be executed by a processor, which may include one or more processors, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), general-purpose microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable logic arrays (FPGAs), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuits. Such a processor may be configured to perform any of the techniques described in the present disclosure. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor; however, in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Therefore, the term "processor" as used herein may refer to any of the foregoing structures, any combination of the foregoing structures, or any other structure or device suitable for implementing the techniques described herein.

[0094] Illustrative aspects of the present disclosure include:

[0095] Aspect 1. A device comprising: a first substrate, the first substrate comprising a first metalens; a second substrate, the second substrate comprising an optical sensor, wherein: the optical sensor is directly covered by a solid cover, and the first substrate is mechanically coupled to the second substrate so that the solid cover is located between the first substrate and the second substrate.

[0096] Aspect 2. The device of aspect 1, wherein the solid cover comprises a portion of the second substrate.

[0097] Aspect 3. The device according to aspect 2, wherein the second substrate comprises a silicon substrate.

[0098] Aspect 4. The device according to any one of aspects 1 to 3, wherein the solid cover comprises a silicon substrate.

[0099] Aspect 5. The device according to any one of aspects 1 to 4, wherein the solid cover comprises glass.

[0100] Aspect 6. The device of any one of aspects 1 to 5, wherein the solid cover comprises a third substrate disposed on the second substrate, and wherein the third substrate is mechanically coupled to the second substrate.

[0101] Aspect 7. The device according to any one of Aspects 1 to 6, further comprising an optical filter disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate.

[0102] Aspect 8. The device of aspect 7, wherein the optical filter is located between the solid cover and the first substrate.

[0103] Aspect 9. The device according to any one of aspects 1 to 8, wherein the optical sensor comprises a back-illuminated optical sensor.

[0104] Aspect 10. The device according to any one of aspects 1 to 9, wherein the optical sensor is flush with the solid cover.

[0105] Aspect 11. The device according to any one of Aspects 1 to 10, wherein the first substrate further comprises a second superlens.

[0106] Aspect 12. A method for imaging, the method comprising: receiving light at a first substrate, the first substrate comprising a first metalens; receiving a first portion of the light at a second substrate, the second substrate comprising an optical sensor, wherein: the optical sensor is directly covered by a solid cover and the first substrate is mechanically coupled to the second substrate so that the solid cover is between the first substrate and the second substrate; and receiving at least a second portion of the light focused by the first metalens by the optical sensor and through the solid cover.

[0107] Aspect 13. The method of aspect 12, wherein the solid cover comprises a portion of the second substrate.

[0108] Aspect 14. The method according to aspect 13, wherein the second substrate comprises a silicon substrate.

[0109] Aspect 15. The method according to any one of aspects 12 to 14, wherein the solid cover comprises a silicon substrate.

[0110] Aspect 16. The method according to any one of aspects 12 to 15, wherein the solid covering comprises glass.

[0111] Aspect 17. The method according to any one of aspects 12 to 16, wherein the solid cover comprises a third substrate disposed on the second substrate, and wherein the third substrate is mechanically coupled to the second substrate.

[0112] Aspect 18. The method according to any one of aspects 12 to 17, wherein an optical filter is disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate.

[0113] Aspect 19. The method of aspect 18, wherein the optical filter is located between the solid cover and the first substrate.

[0114] Aspect 20. The method according to any one of aspects 12 to 19, wherein the optical sensor comprises a back-illuminated optical sensor.

[0115] Aspect 21. The method according to any one of aspects 12 to 20, wherein the optical sensor is flush with the solid cover.

[0116] Aspect 22. The method according to any one of Aspects 12 to 21, wherein the first substrate further comprises a second superlens.

[0117] Aspect 23. The method according to any one of Aspects 12 to 22, further comprising: generating an image using at least the second portion of the light focused by the first metalens; and outputting the image.

[0118] Aspect 24: An apparatus for imaging, the apparatus comprising: means for receiving light at a first substrate, the first substrate comprising a first metalens; means for receiving a first portion of the light at a second substrate, the second substrate comprising an optical sensor, wherein: the optical sensor is directly covered by a solid cover and the first substrate is mechanically coupled to the second substrate such that the solid cover is between the first substrate and the second substrate; and means for receiving at least a second portion of the light focused by the first metalens by the optical sensor and through the solid cover.

[0119] Aspect 25. The device of aspect 24, wherein the solid cover comprises a portion of the second substrate.

[0120] Aspect 26. The device according to aspect 25, wherein the second substrate comprises a silicon substrate.

[0121] Aspect 27. The device according to any one of Aspects 24 to 26, wherein the solid cover comprises a silicon substrate.

[0122] Aspect 28. The device of any one of Aspects 24 to 27, wherein the solid cover comprises glass.

[0123] Aspect 29. The device of any one of aspects 24 to 28, wherein the solid cover comprises a third substrate disposed on the second substrate, and wherein the third substrate is mechanically coupled to the second substrate.

[0124] Aspect 30. A device according to any one of aspects 24 to 27, wherein an optical filter is disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate.

[0125] Aspect 31. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations according to any one of aspects 12 to 23.

[0126] Aspect 32: An apparatus comprising means for performing any of the operations according to any one of aspects 12 to 23.

Claims

1. A device, comprising: a first substrate, the first substrate comprising a first superlens; and a second substrate, the second substrate comprising an optical sensor, wherein: The optical sensor is directly covered by a solid cover, and The first substrate is mechanically coupled to the second substrate such that the solid cover is located between the first substrate and the second substrate.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the solid cover comprises a portion of the second substrate, and wherein the solid cover comprises a solid spacer. The device of claim 2 , wherein the second substrate comprises a silicon substrate.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the solid cover comprises a silicon substrate.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the solid cover comprises glass.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the solid cover comprises a third substrate disposed on the second substrate, and wherein the third substrate is mechanically coupled to the second substrate. 7 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising an optical filter disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein the optical filter is located between the solid cover and the first substrate.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the optical sensor comprises a back-illuminated optical sensor.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the optical sensor is flush with the solid cover.

11. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first substrate further comprises a second metalens.

12. A method for imaging, the method comprising: receiving light at a first substrate, the first substrate comprising a first superlens; The first portion of the light is received at a second substrate, the second substrate comprising an optical sensor, wherein: The optical sensor is directly covered by a solid cover, and the first substrate being mechanically coupled to the second substrate such that the solid cover is located between the first substrate and the second substrate; as well as At least a second portion of the light focused by the first metalens is received by the optical sensor and through the solid cover.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the solid cover comprises a portion of the second substrate. The method of claim 13 , wherein the second substrate comprises a silicon substrate.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the solid cover comprises a silicon substrate.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the solid covering comprises glass.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the solid cover comprises a third substrate disposed on the second substrate, and wherein the third substrate is mechanically coupled to the second substrate.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein an optical filter is disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the optical filter is located between the solid cover and the first substrate.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the optical sensor comprises a back-illuminated optical sensor.

21. The method of claim 12, wherein the optical sensor is flush with the solid cover.

22. The method of claim 12, wherein the first substrate further comprises a second superlens.

23. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: generating an image using at least the second portion of the light focused by the first metalens; as well as The image is output.

24. An apparatus for imaging, the apparatus comprising: means for receiving light at a first substrate, the first substrate comprising a first metalens; means for receiving the first portion of the light at a second substrate, the second substrate comprising an optical sensor, wherein: The optical sensor is directly covered by a solid cover, and the first substrate being mechanically coupled to the second substrate such that the solid cover is located between the first substrate and the second substrate; and means for receiving, by the optical sensor and through the solid cover, at least a second portion of the light focused by the first metalens.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the solid cover comprises a portion of the second substrate.

26. The device of claim 25, wherein the second substrate comprises a silicon substrate.

27. The device of claim 24, wherein the solid cover comprises a silicon substrate.

28. The device of claim 24, wherein the solid cover comprises glass.

29. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the solid cover comprises a third substrate disposed on the second substrate, and wherein the third substrate is mechanically coupled to the second substrate.

30. The device of claim 24, wherein an optical filter is disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate.

Images