A Metalens with a Near-Unity Numerical Aperture

TLDR

The numerical aperture of a lens governs its focusing and resolution, and high‑NA is sought for small interaction volumes or wide angular collection, yet conventional high‑NA lenses rely on costly bulk optics while metasurfaces can offer ultraflat alternatives but have been limited to NA below 0.9. Here we demonstrate, both numerically and experimentally, a diffraction‑limited flat lens with a near‑unity NA (>0.99) and subwavelength thickness (~λ/3) that operates with unpolarized light at 715 nm. To demonstrate its imaging capability, the lens is used in a confocal configuration to map color centers in sub‑diffractive diamond nanocrystals. This work, based on diffractive elements that can efficiently bend light up to 82°, represents a step beyond traditional optics and existing flat optics, avoiding the efficiency drop of standard phase‑mapping approaches.

Abstract

The numerical aperture (NA) of a lens determines its ability to focus light and its resolving capability. Having a large NA is a very desirable quality for applications requiring small light–matter interaction volumes or large angular collections. Traditionally, a large NA lens based on light refraction requires precision bulk optics that ends up being expensive and is thus also a specialty item. In contrast, metasurfaces allow the lens designer to circumvent those issues producing high-NA lenses in an ultraflat fashion. However, so far, these have been limited to numerical apertures on the same order of magnitude as traditional optical components, with experimentally reported NA values of <0.9. Here we demonstrate, both numerically and experimentally, a new approach that results in a diffraction-limited flat lens with a near-unity numerical aperture (NA > 0.99) and subwavelength thickness (∼λ/3), operating with unpolarized light at 715 nm. To demonstrate its imaging capability, the designed lens is applied in a confocal configuration to map color centers in subdiffractive diamond nanocrystals. This work, based on diffractive elements that can efficiently bend light at angles as large as 82°, represents a step beyond traditional optical elements and existing flat optics, circumventing the efficiency drop associated with the standard, phase mapping approach.