Advanced expertise allows filter-free image sensors to be ready to enhance fast and low-light photography for smartphones and self-driving cars.
Researchers have demonstrated that a newly designed pixel-scale supersurface lens – a flat surface that uses nanostructures to modulate light – can be used to create a refined image sensor 3 times more micro than lenses used today. An entirely new sensor structure could allow digital cameras to capture images faster or in much less subdued circumstances.
“Conventional image sensors reminiscent of those used in smartphones, wearables and self-driving cars have limited sensitivity because they depend on color filters positioned on per pixel,” said Masashi Miyata, director of analysis from NTT Systems Expertise Lab in Japan. “Our new lenses include a highly engineered stage that can cause slight build-up while simultaneously separating primary colors without any color filters, opening a path to greatly enhanced sensitivity. significantly.”
In Optica, the Optica Publishing Group’s journal for high-impact analysis, Miyata and colleagues report that filter-free color sensing implemented with brand-new lenses has dramatically enhanced the signature range. without affecting the high quality or spatial decision of the image. And since all-new lenses are created using a CMOS-compatible process, they can simply be integrated into existing sensors to create filter-free imaging units.
“We envision our lenses entering a necessary place in the evolution of filter-free color image sensors, beyond the current sensitivity limits,” said Miyata. “These new sensors could one day allow enthusiasts to capture night scenes with their smartphones, or allow new cameras to accurately capture objects at high speed, which could be useful. benefits in safety and autonomous driving.”
Remove filter
In the standard sensor, color data is collected through the use of color filters that capture part of the sun. For example, a pink filter allows only pink wavelengths while absorbing all opposite wavelengths. Because of this only about 30% of the sun is definitely detected.
To further increase sensitivity, the NTT researchers designed an array of metalens that collects color data without optical loss by what is commonly known as color grading. This results in splitting the sun into pink, unexperienced, and blue, and then focusing every color on completely different pixels. Pixel-scale arrays of metalens are created by etching the nanocolumns right into a 1250 nm-thick layer of silicon nitride.
Although different pixel-ratio color sorters have been demonstrated experimentally, they are not suitable for customer units as they are both ineffective, affected by the polarization of sunlight or from sensitive to mild can impact the sensor from an indirect angle. However, the brand new lenses are mainly based on dispersion-enriched supersurfaces, making them non-polar and preventing spectral crosstalk for all color pixels. Since the lenses are very eco-friendly when focusing lightly, their color grading efficiency is not affected by indirect light.
Sensor performance evaluation
The researchers used an optical microscope to mimic the way that the light object would travel the way of a meteor array earlier than the sensor. This test confirmed that, in contrast to filter-based sensors, metalens-based sensors produce color images with 2.83 times enhanced signature range where high color quality is lost.
The optical simulation study also confirmed that the metalens-based sensor structure exhibits much less image degradation due to the effects of sensor noise, which is often a limiting factor in dark or extreme scene images. fast. Now that they have demonstrated their brand new sensor concept, the researchers plan to create and consider a built-in system by instantly attaching an array of metalens to the image sensor.
“We hope our work will augment the fact that the units and rational optical methods are mainly based on supersurfaces,” said Miyata. “Given the potential to flatten and shrink optical elements while greatly enhancing efficiency, we think optical supersurfaces will be used not only for image sensors but also for multiple optical units. electronics reminiscent of these used in shows, projectors, and augmented or digital reality units. ”
Reference: “Full color grading lenses for high sensitivity image sensors” by Masashi Miyata, Naru Nemoto, Kota Shikama, Fumihide Kobayashi and Toshikazu Hashimoto, December 16, 2021, Optica.
DOI: 10.1364 / OPTICA.444255
