Links: LiveScience.com Article /

It's quite conceivable that your next digital camera may not use the superb glass lens manufactured by companies like Leica and Carl Zeiss, instead using a metamaterial lens to serve the same purpose. Does this mean that glass lenses may end up displayed next to the 35mm SLR (Single Lens Reflex) cameras in the photography museums?

(Photo: A metamaterial lens that could one day find its way into digital camera sensors lies next to a conventional glass lens. Credit: Duke University)

A new lens resembling tiny Venetian blinds can precisely focus the direction of microwaves and could lead to better digital cameras and other imaging devices, scientists say.

The lens, made using a class of man-made substances called metamaterials, may eventually replace conventional lens designs by combining sharper images with a 180-degree wide angle field of view.

"Radar systems and camera systems - even simple personal camera systems - have the potential to benefit from a lens design similar to what we have shown," said Nathan Kundtz, an electrical and computer engineer at Duke University.

Metamaterials represent a combination of materials that create new effects not normally seen in the natural world. The metamaterial lens measures just 4 inches (10 cm) by 5 inches (13 cm), with less than 1 inch (2.5 cm) height, and consists of 1,000 pieces of fiberglass materials etched with copper. The pieces sit in parallel rows that can precisely direct passing electromagnetic rays - in this case microwaves.

(Source: LiveScience.com)