Contrary to widespread belief, the Fresnel zone plate outperforms the metalens at high NA

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Majumder, Apratim, Doughty, John A., Smith, Tina H. Hayward Henry I., Menon, Rajesh
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author Majumder, Apratim
Doughty, John A.
Smith, Tina H. Hayward Henry I.
Menon, Rajesh
author_facet Majumder, Apratim
Doughty, John A.
Smith, Tina H. Hayward Henry I.
Menon, Rajesh
contents Rigorous simulations challenge recent claims that metalenses outperform conventional diffractive lenses, such as Fresnel Zone Plates (FZPs), in focusing efficiency at high numerical apertures (NAs). Across various lens diameters, FZPs exhibit a pronounced asymmetry in the shadow effect, leading to significantly higher focusing efficiency when optimally oriented. Extending this analysis, we show that conventional blazed gratings also surpass meta-gratings in efficiency. Since any linear optical element can be decomposed into local gratings, these findings broadly underscore the superiority of blazed structures over binary metastructures. Experimental characterization of an FZP with diameter = 3 mm, focal length = 0.2 mm operating at $λ$ = 634 nm confirms the dependence of efficiency on illumination direction. Our results emphasize the need for rigorous, direct comparisons between meta-optics and traditional diffractive optics to ensure accurate performance assessments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_20481
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Contrary to widespread belief, the Fresnel zone plate outperforms the metalens at high NA
Majumder, Apratim
Doughty, John A.
Smith, Tina H. Hayward Henry I.
Menon, Rajesh
Optics
Rigorous simulations challenge recent claims that metalenses outperform conventional diffractive lenses, such as Fresnel Zone Plates (FZPs), in focusing efficiency at high numerical apertures (NAs). Across various lens diameters, FZPs exhibit a pronounced asymmetry in the shadow effect, leading to significantly higher focusing efficiency when optimally oriented. Extending this analysis, we show that conventional blazed gratings also surpass meta-gratings in efficiency. Since any linear optical element can be decomposed into local gratings, these findings broadly underscore the superiority of blazed structures over binary metastructures. Experimental characterization of an FZP with diameter = 3 mm, focal length = 0.2 mm operating at $λ$ = 634 nm confirms the dependence of efficiency on illumination direction. Our results emphasize the need for rigorous, direct comparisons between meta-optics and traditional diffractive optics to ensure accurate performance assessments.
title Contrary to widespread belief, the Fresnel zone plate outperforms the metalens at high NA
topic Optics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.20481