Optical Member Phase Correction Layer Wavefront Aberration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional metasurface structures suffer from wavefront aberration, leading to inefficient light use in optical members such as lenses and diffraction gratings, resulting in defects like focal point shift, spread, and decreased diffraction efficiency.
Innovation Solution
An optical member comprising a metasurface structure with a phase correction layer that corrects wavefront aberration by gradually changing phase modulation amounts, using a liquid crystal compound with varying alignment directions to achieve a continuous phase modulation distribution, thereby improving light use efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If a metasurface structure with discrete microstructures is used, then the optical member can be made thin and flat, but wavefront aberration occurs and light use efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a phase correction layer that continuously varies the phase modulation amount across different regions. This continuous parameter change compensates for the discrete nature of the metasurface microstructures, correcting wavefront aberration and improving light use efficiency while maintaining the thin flat plate configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The phase correction layer acts as an intermediary between the metasurface structure and the outgoing light. It mediates the wavefront distortion caused by the discrete microstructures, transforming the distorted wavefront into a corrected one that achieves ideal focusing or beam shaping.
2Length of moving object
If a metasurface structure with discrete microstructures is used, then the optical member can be made thin and flat, but wavefront aberration occurs leading to focal point shift and spread
Solution Approach 1:
The phase correction layer implements continuous phase modulation that varies across different regions, precisely compensating for the discrete phase steps introduced by the metasurface microstructures. This continuous parameter variation restores the ideal continuous phase distribution needed for precise focal point formation.
Solution Approach 2:
The phase correction layer serves as an intermediary that bridges the gap between the discrete metasurface structure and the continuous wavefront required for precise focusing. It mediates the aberration correction to achieve ideal focal point precision.
3Device complexity
If conventional metasurface structure is used, then the device can be simple in structure, but diffraction efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The phase correction layer introduces continuous phase modulation parameters that vary across different regions, compensating for the discrete nature of the metasurface. This parameter variation improves diffraction efficiency by restoring the ideal continuous phase distribution without significantly increasing structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the metasurface structure with the phase correction layer into a single integrated optical member. This combination allows the phase correction function to be incorporated without adding separate complex components, maintaining simplicity while improving diffraction efficiency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The optical member achieves high light use efficiency by correcting wavefront aberration and optimizing phase distribution, enhancing the performance of lenses and diffraction gratings.
Implementation Method 1
a phase correction layer 16 formed using a liquid crystal compound, having a plurality of regions having different alignment directions
Implementation Method 2
the phase correction layer has a plurality of regions having different phase modulation amounts
Implementation Method 3
metasurface structures impart a phase characteristic to electromagnetic waves according to an array of microstructures, thereby refracting the electromagnetic waves
Data Source
AI summary
An optical member using a metasurface structure and having high use efficiency of light. The optical member includes a substrate, a metasurface structure configured of a plurality of arrayed microstructures formed on at least one surface of the substrate, having a plurality of regions A each including, in a case where a region including one or more of the microstructures is defined as a region X, a plurality of the regions X in which phase modulation amounts are different from each other, and a phase correction layer that corrects a wavefront aberration of the metasurface structure, wherein the phase modulation amounts in the regions X of the metasurface structure gradually decrease in one direction, and the phase correction layer includes, corresponding to the region A, a region whose phase modulation amount changes.