To minimize the thickness of a camera lens and enable the fabrication of a high-resolution and high aspect ratio metasurface, a team created a water-soluble mold. This development has the potential to completely change smartphone camera technology, despite difficulties, including high production costs and complicated procedures.
Nanoimprint lithography and electron beam lithography are two important methods for creating metasurfaces. While nanoimprint lithography is less costly and quicker than electron beam lithography, it has drawbacks, such as the potential for structural damage during separation and limitations on high-resolution and aspect ratio for metasurfaces.
The study team created a water-soluble nanoimprint mold to get over these limitations. They developed a method of dissolving the mold in water to prevent damage to the structure rather than physically removing the structure from the mold. The flexible, water-soluble substance polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was used to create the water-soluble mold.
The study team also experimented with the water-soluble mold and fabricated a metalens with a sizeable 1 cm area. This metalens has a high aspect ratio of 10:1, which enables it to transcribe shapes as tiny as 100 nm. It’s noteworthy that the mold continued to operate under the visible regime. This innovative method offers a quick, inexpensive nanoimprint procedure that produces high aspect ratio and resolution results.
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