Optoelectronics Catch here
Optical metamaterials ready for $50 billion optics market
From corrective lenses to industrial, medical, aerospace, and other equipment, these novel materials are poised to make a disruptive impact
O O
ptical metamaterials use carefully controlled nanostructures to manipulate visible light, enabling lighter and thinner optics for everything from eyeglasses to
mobile phone cameras. The technology to design and manufacture optical metamaterials is rapidly maturing, making commercial adoption likely soon, according to Lux Research, a provider of tech-enabled research and innovation advisory services. The potential $50 billion market ranges from corrective lenses and consumer devices to industrial, medical, aerospace, automotive, and military equipment. Lux’s new report, “Innovation Digest:
• Ability to combine multiple optical functions, such as higher-order image corrections, in a single device layer, making for thinner and lighter products
The Lux Take on the Future of Optical Metamaterials,” explores the market readiness of optical metamaterials while identifying opportunities and challenges. A growing number of start-ups are forming, and large corporations are showing significant interest, including partnerships, investments, and product launches from Lockheed Martin, Intel, 3M, Edmund Optics, Airbus, Applied Materials, and TDK.
“Optical metamaterials will impact niches within the lens market in the next year,” says Anthony Vicari, analyst at Lux Research and
OMC launches four new Handy Packs of polymer optical fibre on 100 metre spools
Easier to handle than standard 1 km plus reels for fibre optic systems with shorter links
MC, the pioneer in optoelectronics design & manufacture, has launched new “Handy Packs” of its most popular sizes of high- quality polymer optical fibre for
industrial and other fibre optic systems. The handy pack spools are 100 metre length reels of optical fibre, ideal for projects that require shorter datalinks.
Usually polymer optical fibre is supplied as standard on larger reels of one kilometre or more. The OMC Handy Pack spools are far smaller, lighter and easier for customers to handle and store than large standard reels. In addition, they are lower cost, an important factor at times when customers may wish to hold stocks of different sizes and types of polymer fibre but are finding it challenging to predict
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forward orders and requirements from their own customers. OMC produces the small handy pack spools in house and can supply them with four different variations of polymer optical fibre: 1mm core simplex single core with polyethylene or PVC jacket, and unjacketed bare simplex fibre in1mm, 2mm or 3mm core sizes. Duplex fibre with polyethelyne jacket is available on 50 metre spools.
OMC Handy Pack spools are available now to order from OMC’s purpose-built facility in the UK.
omc-uk.com
lead author of the report. “Lack of production infrastructure and of device designers familiar with the technology have held back progress so far, but design and production technologies have matured rapidly in the past few years.” Optical metamaterials are important to the market over incumbents for these key reasons: • Greater control over direction, transmission, and focusing of light on all major performance axes
• Ability to access novel capabilities including negative, tunable, and complex refractive indices
“The total market for optical metamaterials will likely reach several billion dollars this decade,” Vicari notes. “Optical metamaterials will begin to disrupt conventional optics in some markets soon, and they have the potential in the longer run to displace conventional optics entirely – representing a huge opportunity for materials and equipment companies to gain market share.” While metamaterials are fundamentally a design technology, optimised formulations and equipment can improve reliability, scalability, cost, and ease of design, and start-ups can address these needs better with large company partners. As adoption increases, the equipment and materials markets for conventional optics will shift and likely decline.
luxresearchinc.com One optic working for two
L
ASER COMPONENTS has developed a beamsplitter in which the combined beam of a frequency-doubled laser is split in such a way that 50 per cent of each of the two wavelengths is split off, independent of their polarisations. The polarisation of the split beams remains unchanged. Prior to this new development from our manufacturing facility in Olching near Munich, a two optic system comprising of a traditional beamsplitter and a waveplate were required to achieve this result. This solution significantly simplifies the setup and maintenance of optical systems.
The original design is for 1030nm and 515nm. However, wavelengths, polarisation, and reflection/transmission ratios can be individually customised depending on the application.
lasercomponents.com/uk/product/partially-reflective-coating/ Components in Electronics June 2021 39
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