Optical properties of a bio-inspired gradient refractive index polymer lens

TLDR

The study reports the design, fabrication, and properties of a novel gradient‑index polymer lens. The authors fabricated an f/2.25 nanolayered polymer GRIN singlet and compared its light‑gathering and focusing performance to a BK7 glass singlet of the same f‑number. The polymer GRIN lens achieved up to threefold higher modulation transfer function than the glass lens and weighed an order of magnitude less.

Abstract

The design, fabrication, and properties of one of a new class of gradient-index lenses are reported. The lens is an f/2.25 GRIN singlet based on a nanolayered polymer composite material, designed to correct for spherical aberration. The light gathering and focusing properties of the polymer lens are compared to a homogeneous BK7 glass singlet with a similar f-number. The modulation transfer function of the polymer GRIN lens exceeded that of the homogeneous glass lens at all spatial frequencies and was as much as 3 times better at 5 cyc/mm. The weight of the polymer lens was approximately an order of magnitude less than the homogeneous glass lens.