Metamaterial imager eliminates lenses and moving parts

Although it currently operates in the microwave region, a metamaterial-based computational imager from scientists at Duke University (Durham, NC) and the University of California–San Diego (UCSD; La Jolla, CA) could be engineered to operate at infrared (IR) and other photonic wavelengths.¹ What’s more, it eliminates the typical physical components of an imaging system, including lenses and associated scanning or moving parts. The guided-wave metamaterial aperture achieves two-dimensional (2D; one angular coordinate and range) image acquisition at 10 frames/s using frequencies over the 18 to 26 GHz range. A physical layer compression ratio of 40:1 is demonstrated.