Revolution in optics: New metasurfaces replace conventional lenses!

Revolution in optics: New metasurfaces replace conventional lenses!

Researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) presented a groundbreaking optical component at the Hannover Messe 2025 that could revolutionize the control of light. The new system overcomes the limitations of traditional curved lenses, which are often bulky and offer limited control over light waves. This innovation combines efficiency with a slim design, making it a promising element for numerous applications.

Unlike traditional lenses, which have a macroscopic geometry, the newly developed metasurfaces are made up of tiny structured elements known as metaatoms that influence light on subwavelength scales. According to the researchers, these metasurfaces enable precise control over the phase, amplitude and polarization of light. A single metasurface can replace several optical components and thereby reduce the overall size of an optical system.

Diverse applications

An outstanding example of progress in this area is the optical diffraction metagrating developed at KIT, which has four times higher efficiency compared to conventional diffraction gratings. Such gratings are crucial for applications in spectroscopy, telecommunications and laser systems. Improved control over light under challenging conditions could open up new opportunities for research and industrial applications.

The research group has already identified numerous potential applications, including cameras, sensors, augmented reality displays, medical imaging, and robotics and autonomous driving. These technologies promise not only an improvement in performance, but also a significant reduction in system size and an increase in efficiency.

Advances in large-scale production

The metasurfaces are manufactured using advanced lithography and etching technologies from the semiconductor industry, which enables the scalable production of these innovative components. Dr. Falk Eilenberger, who heads the department for micro- and nanostructured optics at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF, emphasizes that it is necessary to think beyond traditional lenses and mirrors. Metasurfaces concentrate their optical function on a surface through nanostructures.

Interestingly, researchers at Fraunhofer IOF have developed a metasurface with a diameter of 30 centimeters that is suitable for industrial applications. Eilenberger emphasizes that although they are not the inventors of metasurfaces, they are the first to successfully demonstrate this technology on such a large scale.

These developments clearly demonstrate the potential of metasurfaces to shape the future of optics and fundamentally change the way we use light. Further information can be found at KIT as well as on Fraunhofer IOF.