The demand for smaller, lightweight, and more compact electronic devices is accelerating in tandem with advancements in their processing power. As a result, semiconductor component miniaturization has become a pressing challenge for electronics manufacturers. Against the backdrop, metalenses are anticipated to be game changers in optoelectronics, given that they can be developed at existing semiconductor foundries, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Metalenses, which are flat optics technologies that use metasurfaces to bend and steer light, are claimed to dramatically reduce the size and complexity of conventional refractive lenses to favor device miniaturization, optical stability, and focusing quality.

Kiran Raj, Practice Head of Disruptive Tech at GlobalData, comments: “The impact of metalenses can be in the short-term to cater to millions of electronic devices like smartphones for significantly enhanced lens quality with minimal sizes.”

Abhishek Paul Choudhury, Senior Disruptive Tech Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Metalenses are rapidly evolving with advanced processes like the integration of nanoimprint and e-beam lithography that could enable the production of high-quality, low-cost meta-optical elements in batch sizes adequate for the mass production of optoelectronics.”

GlobalData’s Innovation Explorer database tracks metalens technology innovations that catalyze the production of lighter and smaller electronic devices.

Metalenz and STMicroelectronics

The American-Swiss collaboration developed VL53L8 direct time-of-flight (ToF) module dubbed FlightSense for consumer electronics devices. Touted to be the world’s first optical metasurface technology for commercial production, the solution aims to reduce optical module complexity and size while boosting performance.

LG Electronics

The South Korean electronics giant is developing a one-micron (μm) thick metalens to apply in compact and low-power electric vehicle (EV) self-driving kits. Besides that, the ultra-thin lens could also be incorporated into micro cameras for smartphones and other advanced devices.

NIL Technology

The Denmark-based optical solutions company developed a complete near-infrared (NIR) camera module with a 940 nm wavelength NIR imaging lens in a single metasurface. The single metalens named 1M Meta Optical Element (MOE) claims to be unique in its design, functionality, compactness, and efficiency. It can have potential applications in smartphones and automobiles for 3D sensing, facial recognition, and driver monitoring.

Choudhury concludes: “Metalenses are superior to conventional lenses in many ways but they can not be easily manufactured due to the need to design and develop tiny structures with high precision to create the desired behavior on the metasurface. In addition, multiscale structure design and cost-effective manufacturing for novel applications remain in question at this point. There is still a lot of research to be done on new materials that can be used as metasurfaces. However, new tools and design principles are emerging, which indicate a bright future for any device that relies on integrated optics.”