Harmonic Achromatic Metalens with a Wide Field of View for AR/VR Applications

Abstract Metalens, a cutting-edge optical marvel, revolutionizes many applications like cameras, telescopes, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR). Despite having an ultrathin structure, lightweight nature, and multifunctionality, achieving both achromatic imaging and a wide field of view (WFOV) remains a persistent challenge. To address these concerns, we present a novel approach using harmonic metalens featuring a quadratic phase profile to achieve achromatic behavior and WFOV simultaneously. This innovation enables WFOV imaging using the Fourier transform of quadratic phase profile and achromatic behavior at RGB wavelengths (blue λ=488 nm, green λ=532 nm, and red λ=633 nm) with a WFOV of up to ±45°. The designed harmonic metalens is insensitive to polarization with a numerical aperture of 0.76, and at normal incidence, its average focusing efficiency is greater than 50 %.Being polarization insensitive and achromatic, the proposed scheme will certainly broaden theutilization of metalenses in AR/VR, displays, and imaging applications. © 2024 Optical Society of America