From design to manufacturing: complete inverse design flow for meta optics

Metalenses have the potential to revolutionize optical products for compact imaging, sensing, and display applications. However, this emerging technology faces significant challenges in both design and manufacturing. The design difficulty arises from the vastly different length scales involved: the macro-scale of the lenses (macro-optics) and the micro-scale of the constituent meta-atoms (micro-structures). The manufacturing complexity stems from fabrication errors associated with these micro-structures, which can lead to deviations from the intended design. To address these challenges, we have developed a fully automated design flow that integrates ray optics and wave optics for complex optical designs, such as hybrid refractive-metalens systems. To account for and mitigate manufacturing errors during the design stage, we have created a virtual fabrication environment through process simulation. By using manufacturing-aware meta-atom libraries from the outset, rather than ideal meta-atoms, we ensure that the initial fabrication run can meet the intended design specifications.