Imaging with high resolution and wide field of view based on an ultrathin microlens array

An outstanding challenge for micro-optical systems is to achieve high resolution under wide-field-of-view (FOV) imaging. We propose a compact solution for high-resolution imaging under a wide-FOV with wavelength-scale thickness achromatic microlens arrays. Our strategy involves using aspherical sublenses to reduce spherical and chromatic aberration, as well as using small-diameter achromatic microlenses to decrease incident ray height. With the aid of computational reconstruction, the array of microlenses can achieve a wide-FOV comparable to that of commercially available lenses with equivalent large diameters. The microlens array shows a significant advantage in imaging resolution and an order smaller thickness compared to commercial lenses. This highly integrated microlens array, characterizing high-resolution imaging under a wide-FOV, will play an important role in applications such as autonomous driving, endoscopy, virtual reality, and augmented reality.